


Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Boy

by SallyWhite92



Series: Beautiful Boy verse [1]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Inspired by Law & Order: SVU, Taking care of a baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-07-27 15:40:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7624342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SallyWhite92/pseuds/SallyWhite92
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Judy finds a fox kit during a case and is given the chance to be his foster mother. She moves in with Nick to help raise the child, and as he brings them closer together they realized that they may have deeper feelings for each other than they thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. when you smile you knock me out

**Author's Note:**

> yes this is inspired directed by SVU, especially one particular episode. yes if you know what episode I mean you will recognize it right away in the beginning of this chapter. yes I am a complete sucker for these kind of stories. and yes, this may sort of be like a sellout. But I needed to write some fluff before all the angst I'm working on kills me. I also blame Dreamer (aka the star child) for making me want more baby stories because seriously her fic is killing me.

*knock knock*  
  
“ZPD, open up! We have a warrant!”  
  
Everything about this case made Judy’s stomach turn. From the missing panther kid who’s own adoptive mother had given him away, to the fact that the mammals who he had been given to were known criminals AND on the sex offenders’ registry, to the fact that they had learned that the couple had at least two other cheetah cubs that were girls. She could only imagine the things those poor children had to have gone through, and she was determined to get them out.  
  
No one answered the door, which she had expected. Judy pressed her ear to the door and heard some rustling in the hotel room. She nodded to one of the members of the SWAT team and they busted the door in. The two cheetah girls screamed and clung to each other, and the bunny quickly made her way over to them.  
  
“Shh, no, it’s okay. We’re the police, look see?” She showed them her badge and they seemed to relax a little. “We’re here to help you.” She knelt down in front of them. “Are you here alone?”  
  
One of the girls glanced at a door on the far right wall before looking back at Judy.  
  
The bunny slowly stood up, grabbing for her tranquilizer. “Is someone in that room?” She started towards the door and was startled when the girls raced towards her.  
  
“No, no!”  
  
“Please don’t go in there!”  
  
“You’ll wake him up!”  
  
The door opened and a red panda, looking to be older than the cheetah girls, poked her head out of the room, a pleading look on her face. “No, please, you can’t come in here!”  
  
“Look, it’s okay, I’m not gonna let whoever is in there hurt you,” Judy reassured her, placing a paw on her shoulder.  
  
The panda just shook her head again. “No, please, you’ll wake him up, I just got him to sleep!”  
  
Judy gently pushed past her to go into the room and stopped in her tracks when she realized why the girls hadn’t wanted her to go into the room.  
  
In one of the drawers of a dresser, tucked in with blankets, was a little fox kit. His eyes were a bright green and his fur a lighter shade of red than Nick’s or Gideon’s. His tail was fluffy with a tuft of white on the tip, his paws were a dark brown, and a streak of white ran from under his chin down to his diaper line. He was so small, so precious…so young.  
  
Judy hurried over to him, reaching down to pick him up, making sure to keep the blankets wrapped around him. “Hey, sweetie, hey.” Having grown up with so many siblings she knew how to hold a kit properly.  
  
The little fox wrinkled his nose and started to cry, but she pressed his little ear to her throat so that he would be able to hear the pulse there. That seemed to work since he quieted down and settled himself in her arms. She looked down at the little tyke and was amazed when he gave her a big toothless grin.  
  
Right then and there she knew she was a goner.  
  
She made sure to change and feed the kit before he had to go with the social worker they called. She reluctantly passed the baby off to the woman. “He’s such a sweet kit,” she murmured, mostly to herself. She watched him being taken away, her heart breaking a little when he started to cry. She shook her head, clenching her paws. No was not the time for that, she had a case to solve. She straightened up and marched over to the girls.

* * *

It didn’t take too long to track down the criminals and put them in jail. The girls were all put into the foster care system and from what she’d heard they’d all been adopted fairly quickly. But the fox kit…  
  
Now, she wasn’t stupid. She’d listened to all of Nick’s horror stories of how kits from his schools were dumped in and out of foster care homes so fast, because apparently no one wanted a fox kit and only took them to get money from the government. And she had seen a bit of that during her time in the city. But she really hadn’t expected it to be as ridiculous as this.  
  
She was sitting at a hearing for the kit she had found three months ago, and in those three months the poor boy had been passed around three different foster homes. The agency had finally pulled him when they noticed an untreated viral infection, and now they were trying to decide what to do with the kit. It all made her very unhappy, he was such a sweet kit! How could no one want him??  
  
“Officer Hopps?”  
  
Judy jumped and quickly made herself pay attention once more. “Yes, your Honor?”  
  
The judge, an older koala, gave the bunny a gentle smile. “Come to my chambers after this, there’s something I would like to discuss with you.”  
  
The bunny blinked but nodded, since she really didn’t have anything else to do that day. She had finished all of her paperwork earlier and Bogo had let her go early. Nick had to stay behind to finish his paperwork, the lazy fox. That thought made her chuckled and she almost missed the end of the hearing. The judge shuffled out of the room and Judy hurried after her.  
  
Closing the door behind them, she clapped her paws behind herself. “How can I help you, Judge Brown?”  
  
The koala sat down behind her desk, clasping her paws on the desk. She tilted her head at the bunny. “Hopps, you’ve been the only person so far who’s shown a continued interest in Baby Boy Doe. Why is that?”  
  
Judy blinked, a little startled by that question. “W-well, I was the one who found him and he’s such a sweet kit and I just want to make sure that he’s cared for properly.”  
  
“And do you know how to care for a kit properly?”  
  
“Of course. I have over 270 siblings, most of which I helped raise since they were newborn kits.”  
  
Brown smiled at Judy. “Officer, I’ve been doing this job for many years, and by this point I’ve developed sort of a sixth sense about these kind of things.” She pushed a piece of paper towards Judy.  
  
The bunny approached the desk and reached out to take it, letting her eyes scan over it. “Application…to become a foster parent?” She looked up at the judge. “Ma’am?”  
  
The koala leaned towards her. “How would you like to become a foster mother to Baby Boy Doe?”  
  
Judy’s heart skipped a beat.  
  
“There will be year-long trial run, after which you will be given the option of formally adopting him,” the judge went on to explain. She gave the bunny a knowing grin. “Does this sound like something you would be interested in?”  
  
She wasn’t even ashamed of how quickly she was able to fill out the form.

* * *

It took a few days but it wasn’t long until her application was approved. Though upon realizing she would be bringing a kid home, Judy had to rush out to buy things for him. It crowded her little apartment though, and she knew that her neighbors would complain about all the noise from the baby despite how much noise they made. And that really wasn’t a good environment to raise a child in. So, as much as she hated to do it, she knew there was only one person she could ask for help from.  
  
She made her way over to her partner’s desk, getting herself ready to ask one of the biggest questions ever. “Hey, Nick?”  
  
The fox lifted his head and grinned at her. “Hey, Carrots. What’s up?”  
  
“I need to ask a favor from you.”  
  
“Okay, shoot.”  
  
She took in a deep breath. “Is the offer to live with you still open? Only until I can find a bigger place.”  
  
He lifted an eyebrow at her. “Of course, but you do know that you could just stay, right? I don’t mind having a long-term roommate, my place is big enough.”  
  
She worried her lip with her teeth and glanced up at him. He knew something was up, she could see that on his face. She gulped and decided to just cut to the chase. “Do you remember that fox kit I found during the Dogagan case?”  
  
“The one with the missing panther cub? Yeah, I remember why?”  
  
“Well, I went to a court hearing for him a few days ago, because he got sick and his foster parents didn’t do anything to help him and he had to be pulled from there and he’s already been through three homes in three months and—”  
  
“Carrots.” Nick put his paw on her shoulder and she realized she had been rambling, making her skin feel hot under her fur. “Just tell me what’s going on.”  
  
“Well…the judge asked me if I wanted to be a foster mom to him and I said yes,” she blurted out, wringing her paws together. “My application went through and I’m going to be getting him in a couple of days, but I realized that my place isn’t big enough for all the stuff I’m going to need for him. Plus my neighbors are so loud they would wake him up and they would complain about him crying and just no one would be happy.” She glanced up at him. “So, if it’s okay with you, I’d really appreciate it if you let us stay with you, at least until I can find a bigger place for me and the kit.”  
  
He was just staring at her, his eyes wide and his mouth ajar. He seemed to shake it off and held a paw up. “Wait, so, let me get this straight. You’re going to be a foster mom to a fox kit.”  
  
“Yep.”  
  
“The one you found.”  
  
“Uh-huh.”  
  
“And you need a place to stay until you find a bigger place.”  
  
“That’s the plan.”  
  
“And why the heck would you need that?”  
  
She blinked at him. “Come again?”  
  
“Look, Carrots, I remember how starry-eyed you were over this kit when you found him.” A smirk was on his muzzle now and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to slap him or kiss him. Probably the first one, the second one was stupid why had she even thought that. “And in case you’ve forgotten, I’m great with kits. Plus the little guy’s a fox.” His lips turned down a bit. “I know how harsh the system can be on them.” He seemed to push that away since his smirk came right back. “So I don’t see why you think I’m going to say no, or why you have to find another place.”  
  
“Are you sure?” She was glad to hear it, but she wasn’t sure if he understood the seriousness of the situation. “Kits are a lot of work, and he’ll probably cry a lot and we may not get a full night’s sleep for a while.”  
  
“Judy, it’s fine, really. I want to help you.” He really did mean it then, he only used her name when he was being serious.  
  
Judy let out a little sigh of relief, reaching up to hug him around the waist. “Thank you so much. And I’m really glad you’re going to be around, I don’t really know anything about fox kits.”  
  
“At that age every kit is pretty much the same.” He hugged her back then gently pulled her away from him.  
  
She grinned up at him. “So you’ll help me move into your place tonight? I’ll warn you, I bought a lot stuff for the little guy.”  
  
“Like I said, my place is big enough.” He patted the top of her head. “Quick worrying so much. Everything will be fine.”  
  
She nodded, her heart fluttering with excitement in her chest. Everything was falling into place now.

* * *

In all it took about two days to get her fully moved into his apartment. She paid her last month of rent to her landlady who let her out of her contract with no complaint, since she had been a model tenant. Judy and Nick made sure to set everything for the baby up and to child-proof everything they could. They had to buy a crib and a car seat for him, too, along with baby food. Luckily Nick knew all the best one to get for fox kits.  
  
The day to take him home finally arrived and Judy couldn’t believe just how nervous she was. They went to the agency and they had them wait in the hallway while one of the social workers went to get him. Nick bounced his foot on the tile and Judy paced back and forth, anxious to have the kit in her arms.  
  
Finally the worker came back, carrying the kit in car seat. Nick got up and Judy hurried over, taking the kit out of the seat and holding him close to her. The baby looked between her and the older fox and gave him a big grin. She noticed that some of his teeth had already started to come in since she had seen him last. She had to blink away some tears that threatened to spill out. “Hey, little guy…it’s been awhile.”  
  
“Do you have everything ready for him?” the worker asked. “We’ll be by your place in a few days to check up on him.”  
  
She nodded, unable to take her eyes off the kit. He yawned and closed his eyes, tucking himself against her and falling asleep. She was already completely in love with this little guy.  
  
“What have you guys been calling him?” she heard Nick ask.  
  
“Well, we don’t know his name, so mostly just endearments. But please, feel free to give him a name, we don’t want him getting confused later on.”  
  
“We’re still searching for his birth mother,” Judy said softly, rocking the little guy back and forth in her arms. “So hopefully when we do, she can tell us his name.” She touched his softly little cheek with one finger. “But until then…I guess we could just call him Junior.”  
  
The worker nodded. “That sounds just fine. Now, there are still a few things to take care of before you can take little Junior home. Just paperwork things, you understand.”  
  
They both nodded, and Judy carefully handed the little kit off to Nick. She went with the worker but not before stealing a glance over her shoulder at the foxes. Nick was cooing to the kit, bouncing him gently with a soft look in his eyes.  
  
Judy felt her heart skip a beat.  
  
_Uh oh._  
  
She was definitely in trouble now. Her partner being cute with her new foster son…this could only lead to trouble for her heart.  
  
_Sweet cheese and crackers…_


	2. i'll still be here in the morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Judy have to go back to work but Junior keeps chasing away all of his babysitters. In a last resort, Nick calls his mom to see if the kit will take to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again I wrote this in like less than two hours and that NEVER happens when I'm trying to write, which i'm going to assume means I really like writing this story. i'm sorry this chapter is a little late, my work schedule got a little effed up because I took a weekend off but it's starting to get steady again. I'm gonna try to have this up weekly but we'll see. also I keep forgetting to tell you all, I have a tumblr if you guys would like to follow me for any kind of updates, and you can send me any questions you have there. go to mama-sally.tumblr.com if you'd like. here's the chapter, it's a little shorter than the first one but I hope you all like it!

The first few nights weren’t so bad. Junior seemed to settle well and Judy was by his side 24/7, having asked for those days off ahead of time. Nick still had to go to work but he was usually home in time to help her make dinner and get Junior ready for bed. She was almost ashamed of how shocked she was at Nick’s ability to be so…well, domestic. But she supposed she really shouldn’t have been that surprised, he was great with all of her siblings after all. And Junior seemed to adore him.  
  
The trouble didn’t start until after she had to go back to work. She was reluctant to leave the kit, but her job was still very important to her and she wasn’t about to give it up. Nick helped her find the best babysitter, since they couldn’t afford a nanny, and when she had to go back to work she gave Junior a kiss before leaving the apartment with Nick. “He’ll be fine, stop worrying,” the fox reassured her.  
  
Not even an hour into her shift and the babysitter called her, in tears, telling her that she couldn’t do this and had to leave as soon as possible. Judy’s blood ran cold and she took an early lunch to rush to the apartment to see what the problem was. The babysitter ran as soon as the door opened, leaving Judy with Junior who just smiled up at her, lifting his paws in a motion that meant he wanted to be picked up.  
  
The bunny was stumped. What on earth could have happened to make the sitter run away like that?  
  
She had to call the station to tell them she had to stay home the rest of the day. The chief wasn’t happy about it but he understood. Everyone had seen the results of Bogo having to stay up for his own kids, and it wasn’t pretty.  
  
The next day she called another sitter and left Junior with her, hoping that maybe things would be better that. They weren’t. The sitter called after noon, panicked and saying that they couldn’t watch the kit anymore. Nick volunteered to go home early that day, and Judy was left wondering just what was going on. Junior never appeared to be hurt or ill, and the apartment was fine as well. So what made the sitters run away from her son?  
  
After the fourth time Judy knew that something had to be done. None of the sitters they hired had been able to stay with Junior for more than three hours before calling and begging to be allowed to go home. Was it a speciesist issue? She didn’t think so, they all seemed so eager when they first arrived at the apartment. And Junior always appeared just fine when she left him there. So what was going on?  
  
“Maybe we should leave him at a daycare,” Nick suggested on the fifth night as they were putting the kit down for bed. “I know some people, they run one out of their house for pretty cheap, all legit.”  
  
“Do you think that would help?” Judy brushed her paw over the kit’s soft ears, marveling at how they twitched ever so slightly under her touch.  
  
“It wouldn’t hurt to try.” He patted her shoulder, giving her a smile. “I’ll give ‘em a call in the morning, see if they can take him. It’ll be alright, we’ll figure it out.”  
  
So the next day before work they went to the daycare to drop Junior off. It was run by a nice badger couple with a couple of toddlers of their own. There were already a few kids running around when they dropped the kit off. Judy kissed his cheeks and prayed that maybe this time they would make it through the day without a call.  
  
They didn’t.  
  
To their credit, the badgers didn’t call until after 2pm. But still, a call came, and Nick sighed as he stood up from his desk and made his way outside to go get Junior. Judy buried her face in her hands, letting out a frustrated sigh. Was she going to have to take more days off until they could figure this out? What if she had to quit just to make sure her son was cared for? The frustration ate at her until she had to pull her hands away from her face to keep from pulling her whiskers out.  
  
Nick showed up at the station with Junior to pick Judy up. She hurried out to meet them, not wanting to keep her kit and partner waiting. She hopped into the car and looked at Nick expectantly. “So? What was the problem this time?”  
  
“Apparently the same one from all the other times.” The fox turned to her, his mouth held in a grimace. “They said he was fine up until we left and then he just started throwing a fit, kicking and screaming and crying.”  
  
Judy blinked, glancing back at Junior in the car seat in the back before looking at Nick again. “Do they know what set him off?”  
  
“Yeah.” He started the car, backing out of the parking lot before heading towards the apartment. “They’ve been working with kids for years, they know what makes them tick. Junior has separation anxiety, is what they think is going on. And I mean, it makes sense, what with how we found him.” She saw his paws tighten on the steering wheel, the angry gleam in his eye. “I’m sure his mother just abandoning him and giving him to pedophiles didn’t help any. He may just be a kit, but that shit stays with you.”  
  
She didn’t bother scolding him for his language, which she usually did when he used curse words in front of Junior. What had happened to the kid made her upset, too, and she was sure that he wasn’t wrong. No doubt plenty of fox kits went through trauma and abandonment, if Nick’s stories and the cases she’d seen were any indication. She didn’t say anything, just reached over to place her soft paw on his arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.  
  
This seemed to calm him down and he glanced at her to give her a small half-smile. “I have one more idea of who to send him to when we have to work.”  
  
“What is it?” She tilted her head at him, curious.  
  
He sighed as he turned the car, rubbing one of his paws over his muzzle. “I can try to call…my mom.”  
  
Her eyes widened, staring at him with her mouth agape. Nick never really told her anything about his mother other than the occasional comment here and there. And now he was offering to call her to watch Junior…if she ever had any doubts of him caring for her foster son they were all washed away with just that comment.  
  
They got to their apartment building and he turned the car off before turning towards her. He caught a glimpse of her surprise before she tried to wipe it off of her face. He sighed again, rubbing the back of his neck. “My ma, she’s real good with kids. She actually used to foster a little after my dad died, but she stopped whenever I started getting into trouble with the law. A lot of parents didn’t want a known conman’s mother watching their kids.” She could see the shame in his eyes as he spoke.  
  
She didn’t think, she just unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over to wrap her arms around his neck, burying her face in his soft fur. She felt him stiffen before he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back. “I’m sure she’s wonderful, and I can’t wait to meet her.” She was nervous as hell about it, but she was sure that the vixen who had raised Nick had to be a good person.

* * *

Marian Wilde held herself in a way that demanded respect from everyone around her. She had a cane and a huge bag that Judy was sure held anything that anyone would need, like a Mary Puffin bag from the movie. She showed up at their apartment that evening, immediately scolding her son for not calling her sooner along with wacking him upside the head.  
  
“Sorry, Ma, I didn’t wanna bother you,” Nick mumbled, rubbing the spot she had slapped.  
  
Marian shooed him away and went up to Judy, who was holding herself up as high as she could. The bunny smoothed her ears down and reached out a paw to the vixen, giving her the best smile she could manage. “Judy Hopps, it’s so nice to meet you, ma’am.”  
  
The older vixen surprised her by wrapping her arms around the bunny, pulling her in tight. “Thank you, little bunny, for setting my son straight.” The smile Judy received was warm and loving, and she had to blink back a few tears of relief. “Truly, I cannot thank you enough.”  
  
“Gee, thanks, Ma.”  
  
“You hush now,” Marian scolded him, releasing Judy and wiping some tears from her own eyes. “Goodness, lookit me, getting all emotional.” She stood up, her paws on her cane as she looked around. “Now, where is this kit Nicky told me about? I want to meet my grandbaby.”  
  
Judy grinned and hurried to go grab Junior from the other room. She carried him on her hip as she brought him out, the kit yawning and rubbing his eyes with tiny paws. She cooed and smooched his cheek loudly, making him giggle and squeal.  
  
Marian’s eyes lit up as soon as she saw him and she walked over to Judy. “Well, hello, precious,” she cooed to Junior, who to Judy’s surprise lit up and reached out his paws for the vixen. She passed him to her and the older woman cradled him on her hip, rocking him back and forth and crooning to him. In no time at all he was asleep, with both Judy and Nick gaping at the sight. He had never taken to anyone so fast!  
  
At their looks Marian let out a little laugh, shaking her head at them. “Nicky told you I was good with kids, and he wasn’t lying. He used to get the worst separation anxiety when I had to go to work, he terrified every babysitter we tried to get for him.”  
  
Judy looked at Nick who was looking away, the insides of his ears bright red with embarrassment. She grinned at him. “Is that so?”  
  
“Oh yes. Why, I remember one time I had to come home from work because he’d gotten so upset that he’d peed all over himself—”  
  
“OKAY, thank you, Mom, that’s enough.” Nick huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest, both of the women in the room giggling at his response. “If you’re done embarrassing me, I was going to offer you my bed but now I’m wondering if you should just go home.”  
  
“Don’t be cheeky, son, I can still outwit you any day.” Marian grinned at Judy who was almost doubled over with the giggles she was trying to hold in. “I’ll put this little one to bed and you two can go out to dinner or something. He’ll be just fine.” She turned towards the room she had seen Judy come out of and padded that way.  
  
The bunny looked over at her partner, still grinning. “So you used to pee all over yourself.”  
  
“I still have plenty of embarrassing stories from your folks, Jude.”  
  
“Touché.”

* * *

The next day they went to work and Marian stayed at the apartment with Junior, and all was well. There were no calls about their foster son, except one at lunch time to ask them what they had been feeding him. They were actually able to make through the whole day of work for the first time in a week. Judy almost wept from relief, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.  
  
They got home right on time and Marian took them all out to dinner, insisting it was her treat. She told Judy and Nick all about her and Junior’s day, how they played and he took his nap and then they watched a movie together. It really warmed the bunny’s heart to see the vixen look so excited to be a grandmother to the kit.  
  
They all went to the train station to see Marian off. The vixen hugged Nick and smooched his cheek loudly, much to his displeasure. Then she kissed Junior and handed him to Nick, which seemed to be some kind of signal because he walked away to give her some privacy with Judy. Her ears stood up, curious about what all of this was about.  
  
Marian took her paws in her own, her green eyes soft and warm. “Judy, I just want to thank you again for setting my boy straight. I had almost given up hope for him before you came along.”  
  
“He’s the one who helped me, I just returned the favor,” the bunny shrugged, feeling the insides of her ears getting hot.  
  
“Still, it means so much to me.” Marian gave her paws a squeeze. “My son really cares about you, Judy, and I can safely say there’s no one else I’d rather him be with than you.”  
  
She sputtered and pulled her paws away, waving them in front of herself. “Oh, n-no, it’s not like that, we’re just friends, he’s just helping me out with Junior, I’m not, _we’re_ not—”  
  
The vixen chuckled and patted her shoulder. “Sure, dear, whatever you say.” She straightened when she heard the call for her train. “I’ll be over tomorrow, same time.” She kissed the bunny’s cheek before getting onto the train.  
  
Judy watched the train pull away, feeling hot under her fur, trying to reason with herself. Of course Nick cared about her, they were partners, and best friends! And he was great with Junior and he cared about him so much, and she was living with him so she could understand why Marian had made the assumption. Still…she glanced over at her foster son and partner, watching as Nick bounced the kit and pointed out things for him to stare at.  
  
She bit her lip, feeling her skin getting even hotter. Okay, so maybe she had a little crush on Nick, but that was totally understandable. He was a good guy, and not too hard on the eyes too. Plus, when he looked at Junior like that, how could she feel anything but warm? She shook her head and scolded herself before making her way over to them. It was fine, she would be fine, they were best friend and that was that.  
  
Still…why was her heart beating so fast?...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like I said, you can follow me on my tumblr if you have any questions or if you just wanna follow me. i'll try to have this updated by next week, hopefully my work schedule will stay steady. comments, questions, concerns, anything like that is welcome!


	3. you always take it further (than i ever can)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marian makes a comment about how Junior isn't talking yet and Judy freaks out over it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is so late and i'm really sorry, i only have excuses to make, but the good news is i have the next few chapters planned out. and this chapter is so cute you guys, omg, i loved writing this one. i talked about it a few times on my tumblr, which you all should totally go follow so you can ask me stuff about the story and get updates about it. you can find me at mama-sally.tumblr.com. also i'm gonna try to update till the day i die soon, it's just a very sad story which is why i've been procrastinating on it. anywho i really hope you all like this chapter. and awaaaaaaay we go!

With the worry of who was going to take care of Junior off of her mind, Judy’s life seemed to just get better and better by the day. She was working a job that she loved, with a partner she trusted and enjoyed being with to the fullest, and when the day was over she got to go home to a son who was always thrilled to see her. Marian was such a help to them, never hesitating to offer her services to them to help with Junior or any kind of housework, like cleaning or cooking. And once the police department heard of her situation, congratulations and meals and baby clothes and toys and everything of the like flowed in.  
  
Everything in her life was going so smoothly, and Judy realized that she truly had never been happier.  
  
Before she knew it a month went by, and with every visit from children’s services going well it seemed like her chances of being able to adopt the fox kit were getting better and better. The boy was such a happy thing, always smiling and laughing at everyone. He loved to be held and play with his toys, and he was starting to be able to sleep through the night now. He was everything she could have dreamed of in a son, and she couldn’t love him more.  
  
Nick was such a help to her and she was eternally grateful to him. He was always there to help with feeding or changing diapers (though watching the very first time he had tried was hilarious), he stayed up with her during the nights that Junior didn’t sleep well, he was always there to offer support or a shoulder to cry on during her emotional moments. And he really was great with Junior, the kit adored him and Judy could see how much Nick loved her foster son. And she refused to let her developing feelings ruin the easy routine that their little family had fallen into.  
  
She couldn’t lose him…she just couldn’t. Besides, it was just a silly crush, it wasn’t like she was in love with him…  
  
…on second thought, she was just going to push any thoughts like that into the back of her mind.  
  
“How old is Junior now?” Marian asked one day as she and Nick were getting ready to leave for work.  
  
Judy had to stop to think about that for a moment, trying to consider how old he was when she found him and how many months had passed before she had been given custody. “Um…about seven months now, I think.” Her ears twitched in the vixen’s direction. “Why?”  
  
“I was just curious,” Marian shrugged, adjusting the kit on her hip as he sucked his thumb.  
  
“Ma, don’t stress her out before work,” Nick complained as he went up to his mother to kiss her cheek. “We’ll see you guys when we get home.” He kissed Junior then rubbed his muzzle along the top of the kit’s head.  
  
Judy had to swallow back the emotions rising up in her at the small action. It had only recently started but for some reason every time Nick marked Junior with his scent it sent her heart into overdrive. It was such a small thing but it made her want to melt into a puddle every time.  
  
Judy quickly shook the thought away and hopped over to kiss her son on the cheek before marking the same spot with her own scent. She leaned up to kiss Marian, too, giving both the vixen and the kit a smile. “We’ll be home at 5. Have a good day!”  
  
Marian took Junior’s paw in her own and made a waving motion. “Say ‘bye-bye’ to your mommy and daddy!”  
  
Junior just blinked at her before smiling at his foster parents.  
  
Judy tried not to think about how Marian referring to Nick as Junior’s dad made her feel, and instead focused on the slight frown that formed on the vixen’s muzzle. Something that made a pit of worry form in her stomach. “What? What is it?”  
  
“Is he still not talking? Most kits start jabbering away by his age.” Marian seemed to notice the panic that started to rise in Judy’s eyes because she quickly waved her paw at the bunny. “I’m sure he’s just a late bloomer, there’s no need to worry.” She pushed Judy towards the door. “Now run along, you don’t want to be late to work.”  
  
The bunny opened her mouth to protest when she felt Nick’s paw on her shoulder, turning her around. He gave her a reassuring smile. “We can talk about it later, okay? We have a city to serve, Officer Fluff.”  
  
She nodded and went with him, though she couldn’t stop herself from throwing one last look over her shoulder at her son, noting how he just watched her with those wide green eyes of his, his thumb back in his mouth. She swallowed down the lump forming in her throat as she followed the fox down to the car, but her mind wouldn’t stop whirling, thinking about what Marian had said.  
  
Why wasn’t Junior talking yet?

* * *

“Nick, look at this.” Judy swiveled her chair around to grab the fox’s sleeve, trying to tug him over to her. “This article says that abandonment by parents at an early age can cause all sorts of problems for kids, like abandonment issues—which we know Junior has—trauma, PTSD, and even developmental problems.”  
  
Her partner sighed as he turned his head to look at her, his expression purposefully neutral. “Carrots, I thought we agreed to talk about it later.”  
  
“This is later,” she countered, pointing at her computer screen. “Just look at this article! It says that the developmental issues include social anxiety, problems connecting with others, even delayed speech!”  
  
“Carrots.” Nick reached over to place his paw on her shoulder. “Our son does not have developmental problems. Ever since we got my mom to watch him he stopped throwing fits when we leave, he smiles at everyone we pass on the street, hell, I think I’ve even started to see him try to walk. Some kids just take longer to talk. Junior just happens to be one of those kids.”  
  
_Our son._ Judy quickly pushed that to the back of her head as she started to wring her paws. “But what if he is delayed, Nick? What if he never talks? What if this just gets worse and worse and social services decides we’re unfit parents and they take him back and he gets placed with a terrible foster home again who doesn’t take care of him and he gets sick again and and—” She was almost hyperventilating now.  
  
“Judy!” Nick shot out of his chair and stood in front of her, both of his paws on her shoulders now. He looked into her eyes, green looking intensely into violet. “Listen to me, alright?” His paws squeezed her, gently. “We’re not going to lose Junior. He’s okay. He’s just a late bloomer when it comes to talking.” He gave her a smile, a real smile, the one he reserved just for her. “It’s gonna be okay. Okay?” He tilted his head at her.  
  
She knew that he wasn’t going to let this go until he had heard verbal consent from her, so she sighed and nodded. “Okay.”  
  
He nodded back at her, letting his paws run down her arms to take her paws in his, giving them a gentle squeeze. His eyes stared into hers still, making her heart pound and the insides of her ears feel warm. She pulled her paws from his, turning back to her computer and clicking out of the article she had been looking at to continue typing up the report she was supposed to be doing.  
  
She heard him chuckle and murmur under his breath, “That’s my bunny,” before the sound of him typing away on his computer joined hers. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding, trying to get her heartbeat under control.  
  
_Calm down, Judy. It’s just a silly crush, get yourself under control._

* * *

“Can you say ‘mama’? C’mon, Junior, you can do it.”  
  
The kit just stared at her before giving her a toothy grin, his paws reaching out to grip onto the spoon of food Judy held in one paw. He giggled when she held it just out of his reach, his eyes sparkling.  
  
The familiar feeling of hopelessness started to creep up on the bunny and she did her best to push it down as best as she could as she tried again. “C’mon, Junior. Say ‘mama.’” She tickled him under his chin, reveling in the laughter the action brought forth from her son. “Say ‘mama.’”  
  
He made a grab for the spoon again and she let him have it this time, watching as he happily ate the crickets, a happy hum coming from him. He swallowed and reached out for her, his little fingers making a grabby motion.  
  
Judy sighed and gave up, standing up and lifting him from the high chair, setting him down on the floor and watching as he crawled over to his toys. She wrapped her arms around herself and chewed on her lower lip, trying not to let it bother her too much. Nick and Marian were probably right, he was probably just a late bloomer when it came to talking. Not every child developed at the same rate, after all. Bunny children grew faster than fox kits, so maybe that was why she was expecting so much.  
  
Still…she watched her son play, unable to shake the worry that lingered in the back of her mind. What if he was delayed? What would she do?  
  
Suddenly a muzzle landed between her ears, almost knocking her off balance. “I could hear the wheels in your head working overtime from across the room, Carrots.” Familiar paws rested on her shoulders, rubbing them lightly as the muzzle stayed between her ears. “I thought you were going to stop worrying about it.”  
  
“I think we both knew that was a lie, Slick,” Judy retorted, tilting her head up to look at him which forced him to move his muzzle. She gave him a smirk, surprised at how much she was able to put into it. “Besides, one of us has to worry about it.”  
  
A flash of…something went over his eyes, and Judy realized with fear that she couldn’t place what it was. “You really don’t think that I worry about this?” Nick asked, his voice soft but with a hint of harshness that made her throat close up. It was the same tone he’d used during that day at the press conference.  
  
She turned around to face him, her paws held up between them, unsure if she should touch him or leave him alone. “Nick…”  
  
Whatever emotion it had been faded from the fox’s eyes and his normal expression was back on his face. He gave her an easy smirk before making his way over to the kit, picking up him up and throwing him into the air, making Junior squeal and laugh. But Judy could see past the pretense, could see that her words had hurt her fox…again.  
  
The bunny turned away and gathered up the dishes from Junior’s dinner, trying to push away the regret that built in her chest. She really could be a dumb bunny. She would have to apologize to him later.  
  
The rest of the night went off with no incident. They walked Marian to the train station then went back home, giving Junior one last diaper change before putting him to bed. Judy and Nick got ready in the bathroom in turns before bidding each other good night, heading to their separate rooms. Judy changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed, snatching one of the stuffed animals from her bedside table—funny enough, a little fox Nick had given her for her last birthday as a joke—and held it to her chest, curling into her pillow and trying to fall asleep.  
  
Except she couldn’t. She tossed and turned for what felt like hours, her guilt over what she’d said to Nick eating at her. You’d think she would have learned to stop making assumptions after the first time, but noooo, she just had to keep running her big mouth. Of course he was worried about Junior, he loved the kit and considered him to be his son (she pushed the elation from that thought away). How could she have just gone and said that? She really was a dumb bunny…  
  
Finally she gave up, knowing that she wasn’t going to get any sleep until she talked to him about it. It wouldn’t be the first time she woke him up in the middle of the night to talk, and she hoped he wasn’t going to be too angry with her about this. She set the stuffed animal back on her night stand and slipped out of bed, tip-toeing over to her door, hoping she wouldn’t wake Junior. She started to open her door when she heard someone talking. Her police instincts immediately had her pressed to the wall beside her door, her paw reaching instinctively for her hip. She inched forward, pressing her ear to the crack where she had opened her door. Then her eyes went wide.  
  
“C’mon, Junior. Say ‘mama’.”  
  
“Mmmmm…”  
  
“C’mon, little man, you can do it. Say ‘mama’.”  
  
She opened the door a little more, not enough to be noticed but just enough for her to be able to see what was going on.  
  
Nick was sitting with Junior on the couch, the kit seated across from him as he made little gestures to keep his attention. The older fox’s expression was set, determined, his paws holding up one of the children’s books they had gotten, opened to a specific page with the word ‘mama’ printed in bold ink.  
  
“‘Mama’, say ‘ma-ma’,” Nick said slowly, drawing out each syllable as he pointed to the word.  
  
“Mmmmm.” Junior made the noise before grinning at the fox and cooing at him.  
  
Nick sighed and rubbed his muzzle with one paw. “Aw geez, man.” He set the book aside and drew the kit close to him, pulling him into his lap. “We’ll take a little break. But I’m not giving up on you.” He stroked Junior’s ears as the kit let out a yawn. “I know you’re tired, but we have to keep trying at this, okay? Carrots—your mama is really worried about you, and we both know that worry won’t go away until you start talking.” She watched as the older fox absently marked the tips of Junior’s ears. “You won’t understand until you’re older, but she worries a lot and it’s really hard to watch her try to go through it alone. So we have to let her know that she’s not alone, okay?” He picked the book back up and held it in front of them. “How about we try a different word, see if that helps. Can you say ‘pa-pa’?”  
  
Judy softly closed her door, feeling warm both inside and out. She didn’t need to see anymore, this was a private thing for them. And maybe she should have been angry with Nick for keeping their son up so late, but all she could feel right now was that warmth. She knew that he wasn’t angry with her anymore, he was just as worried as she was and also worried about her. She clutched her paws over her chest, unable to stop her heart from fluttering.  
  
_He really is so sweet…_  
  
She crawled back into her bed, grabbing the stuffed fox and snuggling up to it again. Feeling lighter than she had earlier, Judy was able to fall asleep rather quickly, a soft smile on her muzzle.

* * *

A week passed and nothing changed, really. Junior still wasn’t talk, though he was making more noises than he usually did. Judy suspected that Nick had continued with the private nightly teaching sessions but she didn’t say anything about it. If he wanted her to know, he would tell her. And Nick showed no animosity towards her for her thoughtless comment, still talking to her and teasing her the same he always did. Everything was back to normal and she was okay with that.  
  
It was Friday and Nick and Judy were getting ready to go to work, both of them kissing Marian then kissing and marking Junior with their scent. They were almost out the door when a tiny, high-pitched voice spoke.  
  
“Mama!”  
  
Both the fox and the bunny whirled around, staring at the kit in Marian’s arms. The older vixen stared down at him, her eyes wide. “What did you say, sweetheart?”  
  
Junior grinned wide and reached out his arms to Judy. “Mama! Mama!”  
  
She dropped her equipment and ran to her son, taking him into her arms and holding him tight to her chest, trying and failing not to cry tears of happiness. “Yes, baby, yes! Mama!” She rubbed her chin all over his face, taking in the sound of his laugh.  
  
“Mama, mama!” He looked over at Nick and reached out to him. “Papa!”  
  
“Oh my god.” Nick hurried over to him, taking out his phone to record the kit. “C’mon, buddy, say it again. Say it again for papa.”  
  
“Papa!” Junior looked up at Judy. “Mama!”  
  
The bunny wept, nuzzling him once more. “That’s right, baby, that’s right. Mama and papa. Mama and papa.”  
   
She felt Nick wraps his arms around both of them and looked up to find the fox’s eyes wet with emotion as well, though he was doing his best to hide it. Nick nuzzled the kit, putting his scent all over hers, then looked down at her warmly. “See? I told you everything would be fine.”  
  
Overcome with emotion, Judy was unable to stop herself from leaning up to nuzzle the side of his face, accidentally leaving a small mark on his cheek. She only freaked out for a moment before he leaned down to press his muzzle to the top of her head, his hold on her and Junior tightening just a bit.  
  
Judy could hear Marian sniffling, glancing over to see the vixen wiping at her eyes. “I’m sorry, you just make such a darling family.” She went over to them, smooching all of them. “Now, the next word to work on will be ‘grandma’.”  
  
“Geez, Ma, you can’t even give the kid five minutes before pushing him to learn another word?” But they all knew he wasn’t serious.  
  
Nick and Judy were both late to work that day, but it was completely worth it to have the chief yell at them. And she didn’t even protest when Nick spent most of the day showing the video of Junior talking to the others on the force, or when he decided to hold her paw under their desks as he did so.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, i really hope you guys liked this one, i know i loved writing it. i'm gonna try to have the next chapter out earlier this next week, if all goes well with my work schedule. follow me on tumblr if you have any questions or just wanna chat, and i will hopefully see you all next week!


	4. they'll tell the story of tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Judy goes home and finally admits her feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I may not live to see our glory, but I will gladly join the fight! And when our children tell our story, they'll tell the story of tonight!" that's seriously how I feel tonight because I just created a monster of a chapter and it's so frickin sappy that i had to take breaks so I wouldn't pass out from how hard I was blushing. I seriously don't think i've ever written anything this cheesy in my life, what is this, omg. yeah this chapter is over 5000 words long and it's by far probably my favorite. I just love writing this story so much you guys, especially the closer we get to the confession. ...which now brings me to some sort of bad news. the next few chapters I have planned out are going to be more filled with drama than fluff and I just want to know if that will be okay with you guys? I mean, I'm still gonna do it even if you say no because it's part of the story, but I just wanted to put it out there so you all know. okay enough talk, here's the chapter!

“Can you say ‘grandma’?”  
  
“G’amma!”  
  
“Very good, sweetie!”  
  
Judy smiled as she watched Marian press a kiss to her son’s cheek, the kit squealing and wiggling around in response. It was still so nice to see the two getting along so well and that Junior seemed to slowly be growing out of the anxiety he’d once had with anyone other than she or Nick. She rested her chin on her paw as she watched Junior babble on, occasionally throwing in an actual word.  
  
She heard the lock on the apartment door being unlocked and turned her head just in time to see Nick walk in. She smiled and hopped off the couch, going over to greet him. “There you are. Did you finally get your report done?”  
  
“Yeah, I got it done. Only took me two hours after our shift was actually done.” The fox huffed as he loosened his tie and undid the first two top buttons of his shirt. Judy tried to hide the fact that her ears turned a little pink when he did this. “The chief has been busting my ba—brains,” he quickly corrected at her sharp look, “about it, so at least it’s done. Thanks for waiting for me, by the way.” He gave her a pointed a look.  
  
“If you had done it sooner like I’d told you to, you could have come with me,” she replied in a sing-song voice, reaching up to tap his nose with her finger. She squealed and pulled away when he licked her, a playful look in his eyes.  
  
“Oh, you’re asking for it now, fluff.” He acted like he was gonna pounce and she laughed as she darted away, Nick right on her heels. She made it around the couch once before he caught her, scooping her up against his chest and blowing a raspberry into her neck, tickling her and making her squeal again before she collapsed into giggles, pushing his snout away.  
  
“Nick, stop!” But she didn’t really mean it, how could she when those eyes were shining as he looked at her, black lips drawn into a big smile as huge paws held her gently to him. He fell back into the cough, causing her to yelp before laughing, relaxing into him. They both needed this, the day had been long and boring, filled with catching up with paperwork. This was the sort of stress relief that they needed.  
  
“Ahem.” They both looked at Marian who was on the other end of the couch with Junior on her lap, looking at them pointedly. “While it’s lovely to see you two being adorable, perhaps not while young eyes are watching?”  
  
Judy realized their position, Nick on his back with her right on top of him, and felt her skin flush red under her fur. She quickly got off the fox, pushing her ears down behind her back as she searched for some excuse to leave the room. She was granted one when her phone started to ring with the ringtone for MuzzleTime. “Hey, look, my parents are calling! I, uh, I’ll just answer this in my room!” She hurried into her room, closing the door behind herself and taking a moment to get her cool back before going over and sitting at her desk. She answered the phone and put a smile on her muzzle. “Hey, guys!”  
  
“Hey there, Jude the Dude!” Her dad smiled from the small screen.  
  
“Hey, hun bun,” her mother greeted her, obviously being the one holding the phone up. “We hadn’t heard from you in a while, so we wanted to call and check up on you.”  
  
“I’m sorry, guys, I’ve just been so busy with work and Junior,” Judy explained, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “I’ve been meaning to call you, I promise. Oh!” Her ears pricked up. “Did you guys get the videos I sent you? He’s finally started talking!”  
  
“Oh yeah, we saw,” Stu nodded, grinning wide. “We’re all real proud of the little fella right with you, Jude.”  
  
“That’s actually why we called.” Bonnie moved the phone so she could look at her daughter better. “We were hoping we could talk you into bringing him to visit soon.”  
  
Shock hit her harder than she thought it would, and for a moment all she could do was blink at the screen, her mouth a jar. She quickly snapped herself out of it, closing her mouth. “Really? You wanna meet him?”  
  
“Well, of course! He’s your son, which makes him our grandkit.” Stu said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And what grandparent doesn’t wanna meet their grandkit?”  
  
“So when could you come?” Bonnie asked, looking at Judy expectantly.  
  
She took a minute to think about, trying to think of how many vacation hours she had saved up. Today was Wednesday, so if she talked to the chief tomorrow… “I could maybe come down this weekend, if that would be okay?”  
  
“That sounds great!” Bonnie smiled at her from the other side of the screen. “We’ll have everything ready for you and Junior when you get here.”  
  
“Will you be bringing Nick with you?” Stu piped up.  
  
She thought about it for a moment. She knew that if she asked Nick to come with her, he would say yes, but…part of her was hesitant to ask him to come with her just yet. It wasn’t like he’d never gone home with her, but that was before they had brought a child into their home who referred to them as mama and papa. She didn’t want anyone at home getting the wrong idea. Plus, who knew how they would react if they thought that they were together??  
  
“Probably not this time, he has a lot of paperwork to catch up on at work,” she lied, trying to cover it up with a smile. “Maybe next time, though.”  
  
“Well, you let him know that we’re thinking of him and he’s always welcome in our home,” Stu told her, shaking a finger at the screen.  
  
“Alright, so we’ll see you and Junior this weekend?” Bonnie asked.  
  
“Yep, we’ll be up there Friday afternoon. I love you guys.”  
  
“We love you too, Jude!”  
  
“Give us a call when you get in. Bye now!” The call ended, the last image of her parents on the screen for a few seconds before it went back to her regular home screen, a picture of Nick and Junior that he had sent to her one day.  
  
The bunny set her phone aside and leaned back in her seat, letting her eyes close as thoughts flooded her brain. Her parents had been nothing but warm and welcoming to Nick ever since he had become her partner, which she suspected was partly because of their partnership with Gideon but also partly due to the relief they felt that a predator was willing to protect their daughter. And while she knew they didn’t mind the fact that he was helping her raise Junior, she really wasn’t sure what they would do if they thought that she and Nick were together. And, frankly, she was a little afraid to find out.  
  
And she was ashamed of this fear, but how could she not worry?  
  
She pushed those thoughts aside and opened her eyes, determination filling her. They weren’t together, so there was nothing to worry about. As long as Nick wasn’t there, Junior wouldn’t refer to him as papa and everything would be fine. Everything would be just fine.  
  
She heard Junior squealing and Nick’s laughter from the other room and she smiled as she got up to go join them.

* * *

“I’m gonna go visit my family this weekend,” Judy told Nick the next day as they were tucking Junior in for bed. She’d talked to the chief and gotten the okay to take the weekend off, and that was the only excuse she’d had for not telling the fox.  
  
He blinked at her before saying, “Okay. Do you want me to go with you?”  
  
She looked away as she shook her head, leaning over to kiss the sleeping kit’s forehead. “Not this time, no. Just so my parents can get used to having a fox in the family.” She looked up at him, hoping he would buy it.  
  
The look in his eyes told her that he didn’t, but he didn’t try to push her on it. “Alright.” They walked out of the kit’s room together, heading for the kitchen to clean up the dishes from dinner. They fell into their easy routine of her washing and him drying and putting the dishes away. He was better at reaching the shelves than she was.  
  
There was a comfortable silence between them as they worked, which Nick only broke after everything was put away. “Hey. You know you can talk to me, right? About anything. I know I tease you a lot, but I can be serious every now and then.”  
  
She looked over at him, ears perking up in surprise. “Of course I know that, Nick. You’re my best friend, I know I can tell you anything.” Well, except for her growing feelings for him but those weren’t important enough to entice a discussion.  
  
His expression fell back into his usual easy one, a smirk on his muzzle. “Good. By the way, you have a little something on you.”  
  
She looked down, trying to spot whatever it was. “What? Where?”  
  
“Riiiiight…there.” He suddenly flicked her nose, laughing when it twitched rapidly.  
  
She huffed slapped his paw away, which only made him laugh harder. She turned her nose up at him but couldn’t stop the smile that spread on her own muzzle. He was such a goober, but it was nice to see him laugh.

* * *

Friday afternoon came sooner than she had expected, with that morning being a flurry of packing a few last minute things before they had to go to work. Their shift went by thankfully fast, with them having traffic duty on one of the busiest days of the week. They clocked out right on time and hurried home so that she could grab her bags and Junior before they dropped Marian off at her house then went to the train station. They got there about ten minutes before the train and Judy bounced Junior nervously in her arms as they waited.  
  
“You okay?” Nick asked her, flicking an ear in her direction.  
  
She glanced up at him and nodded, looking back at the tracks. “I’m fine. Just a little nervous, I guess. This is the first time my parents are going to meet him, plus my family.” She ran a paw over the kit’s ears, making him look at her. “I just hope everything goes okay.”  
  
“Hey.” The fox laid a hand on her shoulder, making her look up at him again. “They’re going to love him. There’s no way anyone couldn’t.” He smirked down at her, confident. “He’s our kid, after all, so that already makes him awesome.”  
  
She rolled her eyes at him but couldn’t stop the smile that spread on her lips. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Being the child of the hero cop probably helps.”  
  
“I think you means cop-s, with an s.” He flicked her ear before shoving his paws into his pockets.  
  
The train slowly pulled up to the station then, the announcement for the passengers to board coming over the intercoms. Judy quickly went to pick up her bags when Nick grabbed her paw. She looked at him, her head tilting to the side. “What is it?”  
  
He looked like he wanted to say something but stopped, seemingly searching for words. Her nose twitched as she waited for him to speak. “Just…gimme a call tonight. Tell me how it all goes.”  
  
She had to keep her ears from drooping with disappointment, but from what, she wasn’t sure. “Yeah, alright.” She bit her lip then leaned up on her tiptoes to wrap her free arm around him, holding him tightly to herself for a moment. “We’ll miss you.”  
  
He wrapped his arms around her and Junior and hugged them back, giving them a gentle squeeze. “I’ll miss you guys, too. It’s gonna be too quiet in the house without you.”  
  
“You could always call Finnick to keep you company,” she chuckled against his neck.  
  
“That’s an entirely different kind of noise, Carrots.” He pulled back enough so he could look at her, the soft look in his eyes making her breath catch in her throat.  
  
Without thinking she leaned up to kiss his cheek, pressing her lips into his fur for a few moments longer than necessary before pulling back, starting to lower herself back down on her feet.  
  
He caught her before she could, kissing her cheek back before pressing his muzzle to the top of her head. It made chills go down her spine and she almost missed the last call for the train. She grabbed her bags and took a step back, trying to calm her nerves as she held Junior tightly against herself. “I’d better, ah—”  
  
“Yeah, don’t wanna miss the train,” he laughed, smoothing his shirt.  
  
She gave him one last smile before hurrying onto the train, dragging her bags with her. Once they were on she set Junior on a seat so he could see out the window. She saw Nick looking at them from the platform and waved to him. He waved back, and he kept waving as their train pulled away, going down the tracks. She kept looking at him while he was in sight then sighed, turning around and sitting on the seat beside her son, wrapping one arm around Junior and the other around herself.  
  
“Papa?” She looked at the kit, noting the confused look on his face.  
  
She smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “We’ll see papa later, okay? Right now we’re going to go see your Grandma and Grandpa Hopps.” She smiled as she thought of her family. “They’re all going to love you, Junior, and you’re going to love them. I promise.”  
  
Her son gave her a big toothy grin and she suddenly knew that everything would be okay.

* * *

Two hours later the train arrived in Bunnyburrow where she was greeted by her parents and at least half of her siblings. Junior was shy at first but soon warmed up to Bonnie and Stu, who couldn’t stop cooing at him from the moment they saw him. Bonnie had taken him from Judy and she had a feeling that she wasn’t going to get to hold her son for the rest of the visit, which she was okay with. The relief that flooded her at knowing that her family loved her son as much as she did was overwhelming and she nearly cried from it.  
  
They went back to her parents’ burrow and she put her stuff in the room they had prepared for them before joining her parents in the kitchen. Junior was seated in a high chair as Bonnie fed him bits of everything she was cooking, the kit smiling and babbling all through it. “Judith, he’s too skinny, you need to feed him more,” the older bunny playfully scolded her daughter.  
  
“The doctor says he’s just the perfect weight, Mom,” Judy giggled as she took a seat beside her son, enjoying watching her son interact with her family.  
  
“He doesn’t talk nearly as much as you did at that age, Jude,” Stu teased her, reaching over to fluff up the fur between her ears.  
  
“Dad,” she protested, reaching up to swipe away his paw and smooth down the fur again. “I’m not a kit anymore.”  
  
“No, you certainly aren’t.” Bonnie smiled at her, a gleam in her eyes that made Judy nervous for some reason. “So, how’s Nick doing?”  
  
“He’s good,” she told them, leaning her chin on her paw. “He sends his regards, of course.”  
  
“Such a shame he couldn’t come with you,” Stu commented.  
  
“Maybe next time.” She was started to get suspicious. “Why?”  
  
The two rabbits looked at each other before looking back her, fake expressions of innocence on their faces. “Oh, nothing, nothing at all.”  
  
“Guys…” What was going on?  
  
Bonnie sighed and set down the spoon she held, picking Junior up again and setting him on her hip. “Honey, we just want you to know that it’s okay, we support you fully on this.”  
  
“On what? Adopting Junior?”  
  
“Well, yeah, that.” Stu stood at her other side. “But we also don’t want you to feel like you have to hide anything from us. Especially if it concerns Nick.”  
  
She suddenly understood what they were referring to and quickly shook her paws at them, her eyes wide and her ears bright pink. “Wha—n-no, no, it’s not like that!” She saw them share a look and stood up, feeling a bit desperate. “No, seriously, it’s not! We’re just friends!”  
  
“Judy, you smell like him,” Bonnie stated.  
  
“I LIVE with him, of course I’m going to smell like him!” She groaned and pushed her ears behind her back. “We’re not together, we just live together, he’s helping me raise Junior because he knows way more about fox kits than I do. That’s it, honest!”  
  
Her parents shared another look with each other. “Alright, Jude, alright. You can tell us when you’re ready.” Stu patted her shoulder then looked up sharply when he heard a crash come from the other room, followed by some shouting. “John! James! How many times have I told you, not in the house!” He huffed and looked at his daughter and wife. “I’ll be back. You ladies have fun without me.” He ruffled Junior’s fur before stomping out of the room, already starting to yell at his sons for causing mischief in the house.  
  
Judy groaned and sat back down, leaning back into her chair. She looked over at her mother. “Mom. There is nothing going on between me and Nick. We’re just friends.”  
  
“That’s not what I smell.” Bonnie gave her daughter a pointed look as she set Junior back in the high chair. “You may be able to fool your friends in the city, but I’m your mother and I know how these things go. You smell like him, your ears turn pink when we even mention him, and no matter how much you try to deny it I can see how you feel clearly written on your face.”  
  
“But—I just—we’re just—ugh!” The bunny gave up and buried her face in her paws, letting out another groan.  
  
She felt her mother’s paw gently rub her shoulders. “Why are you trying so hard to hide it, hun bun?”  
  
“Because.” She let her paws fall to her lap as she stared helplessly at the table. “Because there’s no way he feels the same way. And I know what you’re going to say, about him letting me into his home and helping me raise a kit, but that’s just the kind of person he is. When someone he cares about needs help, he won’t tell them no.” She looked at her mother. “He’s such a good mammal, Mom, and he’s my best friend. I don’t want to lose him.”  
  
Bonnie sat down in the chair next to her daughter, keeping her paw on her shoulder. “Now why do you think you’ll lose him?”  
  
“Because that’s what happens when one friend falls in love with another friend who doesn’t feel the same way.” There, she had finally said it out loud. There was no taking it back now. She leaned her head back on the chair, staring up at the ceiling. “Things get awkward and they start to drift apart until they realize that they aren’t really friends anymore.” She closed her eyes, trying to swallow down the lump in her throat. “And I can’t afford for things to get like that for us. Junior adores him, and he’s the most important male figure in his life. He calls him Papa, for crying out loud!” She lifted her paws up before letting them flop back down again. “I can’t do that to him. To either of them.”  
  
The older bunny just listened to her daughter, paw still rubbing her shoulder. “How long have you felt this way?”  
  
“I don’t know. It feels like forever.” Judy bit her lip. “But…I think I realized the day we were given Junior to take home. I saw Nick holding him, saw how he looked at him, and something inside of me changed. I couldn’t ever look at him the same way after that. And then he called his mom to watch him for us, and he’s been so patient and understanding through everything…but nothing besides that has really changed. We still act the same way we always did.” She let her eyes close, swallowing once more. “And that’s fine. It’s fine, really! As long as I can stay by his side…that’s all that matters.”  
  
Bonnie stayed quiet for a few moments before speaking, slowly and with meaning. “Judy. I think he deserves to know how you feel, especially if it’s this strongly.”  
  
“But mom—!” Her head snapped around to look at the older bunny.  
  
Bonnie held up a paw and Judy shut up, then she continued. “I know you’re scared, but if he’s really as good a mammal as you’re making him out to be then I doubt he’s going to react as negatively as you think he is. And who knows, maybe he does feel the same way and has been holding back for the same reasons.” She pulled her daughter in for a hug, and Judy instantly returned it. “I just don’t like seeing you so sad.”  
  
Judy smiled and leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder. “Thanks, Mom.”  
  
Bonnie gave her one last squeeze before pulling away and standing up. “Now. How about you finish helping me make dinner?”  
  
“You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m starving!” Judy stood and went over to the stove with her mother, feeling a little lighter after getting all of that off of her shoulders. It was nice to finally say it all out loud.

* * *

Dinner went well all things considering. Some plates were broken and food fights almost broke out at least three times but that was pretty usual for meals. Everyone oo-ed and ahh-ed over Junior after dinner, the smaller bunnies trying to play with him the best they could play with an eight month old fox kit. This continued until bedtime and Junior was out like a light almost the second she put him in the crib her parents had set up in her room. She sat down on her bed and pulled out her phone, ready to call Nick when his ringtone for MuzzleTime sounded from her phone. She was quick to answer, a smile on her face as she held the phone up. “Hey.”  
  
“Hey there, Officer Fluff. All going well down yonder?” She could see that he was laying on his bed, his phone held up with one paw as his other arm pillowed his head. She tried not to let him see how her ears turned pink when she noticed that he didn’t have a shirt on.  
  
“Yep, everything is going great! Everyone loves him.” She flopped back on her bed, still holding her phone up.  
  
“I told you everything would be alright. There isn’t a mammal on the planet who could resist our son. Speaking of which, where is he?”  
  
“I just put him down for the night. Want me to get him up real quick so you can say hi?”  
  
“Nah, let the little guy sleep. He had a long day.”  
  
“He’s not the only one.” The conversation with her mother came to mind and she quickly pushed it away. “How was your night?”  
  
“Not bad. Ordered in Chinese, watched a movie, played around on my phone. It’s surprising how much free time you have when you don’t have to worry about a kit.”  
  
“Do you miss all the free time you used to have?” she teased him, expecting him to play along.  
  
Except he didn’t. He shook his head, his expression serious. “Not at all. And I don’t wish for it back, either.”  
  
She couldn’t help the smile that came to her muzzle at his words. “Good. Because I’m pretty sure you’re stuck with it for the next, oh, eighteen or so years. If you can stay around for that long.” The thought of Nick not being there with her and Junior hadn’t occurred to her since she had moved in with him, and thinking of it now sent a shock of sadness through her heart.  
  
“Oh, I can, trust me. Someone has to be there to get Junior through those awkward teenage years.” They both had a chuckle at that, and for a few moments there was silence between. Nick was the one to break it, as he usually did. “So everything went good? No one is being mean to him or anything?”  
  
“No,” she shook her head. “Everyone has been really kind to him. Some of my brothers and sisters were trying to play with him after dinner, but he’s smaller than all of them right now so they weren’t really sure what to do.”  
  
“That’s gonna change soon.”  
  
“Ugh, I don’t wanna think about that.”  
  
“He’s not gonna stay little forever, Carrots.”  
  
“I know that.” She made a face at him.  
  
He made one back at her and they laughed again before the silence was back. She was the one to break it this time. “We miss you.”  
  
“I miss you, too.” The look on his face made her heart skip a beat. “When are you guys coming back?”  
  
“Sunday, probably sometime after lunch. I’ll text you to let you know when we leave.”  
  
“And I’ll pick you up at the station. It’ll be nice to have my family back.”  
  
And there was another skip. “Yeah. It’ll be nice to be home. I love my family but I know I’ll be ready to come back.”  
  
“Maybe I could come up with you next time.” He looked almost afraid of her answer and she was quick to remedy that.  
  
“Oh, definitely. Mom and dad keep asking about you, if I don’t bring you next time I’ll probably get a lecture.”  
  
“It’s good to know that they like me.” Relief was on his face now and it made her smile. His expression slowly became serious again. “And how are you? You doing okay?”  
  
She blinked, surprised. “I’m fine. Why?”  
  
He shrugged, looking away from the screen. “I dunno. You’ve just seemed a little…distant lately. Maybe it’s just me.”  
  
_He'd noticed._ She swallowed down a lump in her throat, holding her phone up with both paws now. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind…but I think my mom was able to help me talk through it tonight.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “Everything’s fine, I promise.”  
  
“I meant what I said the other night,” he told her, the corners of his lips turned down just a bit. “You can talk to me about anything, Judy. I’m not going to judge you or anything. Like I said, I know I tease a lot, but I do know how to take things seriously.”  
  
“I know that, Nick,” she told him, her voice soft. “And…” God, she really had no choice now, did she? “I promise…I’m going to tell you everything soon. I’d just rather do it in person, ya know?”  
  
“Yeah, I get it.” He yawned and his phone jiggled as he rubbed his eyes. “Alright, Officer Fluff, this big bad fox needs to hit the hay. Unlike someone, I actually have to go to work tomorrow.”  
  
“Alright, I’ll let you go sleep, you poor thing,” she teased back, relieved that their usual banter was back.  
  
“Call me tomorrow night?” he asked, tilting his head at her.  
  
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Night, Nick.”  
  
“Night, Judy. Sweet dreams.” And the call ended, the image of him staying on the phone for a few seconds before disappearing.  
  
Judy let her phone fall to her chest as she reeled from the conversation. She had just told him that she would tell him everything…she groaned and rolled onto the bed fully, slipping under the covers and pulling them over her head. Her heart was pounding, her body trembling just a bit as she thought about it. Was she really going to go through with it? Could she really risk everything by telling him how she felt? She didn’t just have herself to think of now, Junior could suffer if everything didn’t turn out okay.  
  
_“He deserves to know how you feel…”  
  
_ She sighed and closed her eyes, pulling the covers down to grab her phone so she could plug it in for the night. Her mom was right, he did deserve to know. And maybe it would be fine, he would probably laugh it off or something. Maybe she could play it as a joke if he reacted negatively and everything would be fine. She tried to reassure herself as she turned her lamp off and curled up on her bed.  
  
Still…she was afraid. She didn’t want to lose him, or his friendship. But maybe…maybe it would be worth it. She repeated this to herself as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The rest of the weekend went by faster than she thought and before she knew it, it was time to go home. Her family sent her off with lots of kisses and well-wishes, her mother sending her home with another bag just full of food. Her father reminded her to bring Nick up the next time she came home and she promised she would. Both of her parents kissed Junior and bid him almost tearful good byes as they boarded the train, waving to them until they were out of sight. Judy sighed and pulled her son onto her lap, glad to be able to hold him again.  
  
The two-hour train ride went by slowly, probably because she was both excited for and dreading seeing Nick again. Excited, because she had missed him very much. Dread, because now that she had admitted out loud that she was in love with him she couldn’t get it out of her head and she was afraid it was going to tumble out of her mouth the moment she saw him. She tried to reassure herself that everything would be okay, of course she wasn’t going to do that, but the anxiousness was still there.  
  
They arrived at Zootopia central and Judy grabbed their bags and somehow managed to get them and Junior off the train without falling over. She saw Nick waving at them from down the platform and her heart skipped a beat, but she set down their bags and waved back at them. To her surprise he broke into a sprint and scooped her and Junior up when he reached them, twirling them around. The fox kit squealed when he did this, laughing and yelling, “Papa, papa!”  
  
“Hey, little man! Long time, no see!” Nick set them down and took Junior from her, loudly kissing his cheek to make the kit laugh again. “Hey, guess who else is here? Gramma!”  
  
Judy noticed Marian walking towards them, and Nick passed the kit to her as he turned to the bunny. She smiled up at him and opened her mouth to greet them when she was suddenly scooped up again, though he didn’t twirl her this time. Instead he just held her close, resting his muzzle on her shoulder. She couldn’t resist the embrace and hugged him back, nuzzling her nose against his neck as she breathed in his familiar scent.  
  
“Welcome home, Carrots,” he murmured softly to her, sending a chill down her spine.  
  
“It’s good to be home,” she said back, softy, pulling away so she could look at him.  
  
He grinned at her and set her back down, taking the heaviest bag in one paw and her paw in his other one. She grabbed the other bags and followed him and Marian out of the station, unable to stop her heart from pounding.  
  
_Maybe…maybe telling him will be alright…maybe…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> like I said in the beginning notes, things are gonna get more dramatic in the next chapter and it's gonna continue for probably at least two more chapters after that. but I promise I'll make it up to you all with more fluff after that part is over. and there will still be fluff to go with the drama. anywho I hope you all liked this one and i'll see ya next week!


	5. may you always be satisfied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Judy arrest and find Junior's mother, in that order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry. i feel like that's all i can say about this chapter. but i just wanna point out, the tags warn you about this. i didn't put 'inspired by law and order: svu' for no reason. btw this chapter is very very strongly based off of SVU season 15, episode 24 "Spring Awakening". i'm sorry if you don't like it, but it's necessary for the plot, this was always something i had planned ever since i first started the story. this is also the longest chapter yet, so have fun with that. there's more judy and nick in this chapter than junior, so make of that what you will.

Unfortunately there was no time to talk to Nick when she got back.  
  
The Monday they went back to work they caught a rather big case. A string of robberies and assaults on tourists, all with the same MO. The last victim had been beaten so bad that he had to go to the hospital for a concussion. Bogo ordered that they start investigating immediately, wanting to get the perp off the streets. But it wasn’t as easy as that.  
  
“So what do we got?” Nick asked Judy as she spread the case files over a table in one of the spare investigation rooms.  
  
“Not much.” She frowned, smoothing down one ear as she picked up a file. “So far, five assaults in the last two weeks, all on males, all tourists from all different locations, none of them living in Zootopia. And after the attacks, they all went back home.” She set down the file and picked up another one, opening it. “Except for our last victim. Hans Dürr, black bear, age 32. Visiting from a small town in Saarland.”  
  
Nick peered over her shoulder at the file, close enough that his breath tickled her ears and made a shiver go down her spine. She quickly shook it away. Now was not the time, she had to focus.  
  
“So where is he now?”  
  
“In Zootopia Central Hospital. His assailant broke his arm and gave him a concussion that made him black out. One of the hotel maids found him and called us.” She scanned the file. “Says here that he had answered some add online for company.”  
  
“We all know what that means,” Nick muttered, his tone cynical.  
  
Judy closed the file and turned to look at him. “They were able to catch the girl on camera; we have a picture of her…here.” She turned and picked up another file, flipping through it until she found what she was looking for.  
  
The imagine was fuzzy, since it was an elevator camera, but clear enough to make out. A vixen, looking pretty rough and worn down from the life she led, wearing a cheap-looking dress and holding a small hand bag.  
  
“Aw, geez.” She heard Nick sigh and glanced over at him, noting the grimace on his face. “Poor girl…”  
  
An unreasonable spark of jealousy raced through her and she did her best to shove it down, knowing it was completely uncalled for. “Do you know her?”  
  
“No.” The fox shook his head, the grimace still on his face. “But I know this happens to a lot of foxes. They can’t find honest work so they turn to the one thing they know will sell.” He glanced at her. “Ma always warned me to stay away from girls like that, said it would be nothing but trouble.”  
  
“Thank god for Marian, then,” Judy smiled up at him.  
  
The door to the room opened and they both quickly turned their attention that way. McHorn stood in the door way. “Hey, got a call from the hospital. Your victim just woke up. Chief wants you to go and talk to him.”  
  
“We’re on our way. C’mon, Nick.” They fox and bunny gathered up the files and hurried out of the room.

* * *

“I answered an ad on Claw’s List looking for a real Zootopian girlfriend experience,” Hans the black bear told them after they arrived in his hospital room and introduced themselves.  
  
“Did you take her on a date?” Nick asked the bear.  
  
Hans shook his head. “Nein, she came to my room, asked if she could order some room service. She didn’t look like her picture, but she seemed nice enough. Said her name was Charlotte.”  
  
“Did you two talk?” Judy asked, taking notes.  
  
The bear shook his head. “She got right to business, unzipped my pants and…well, you know.”  
  
“Yeah, we get the picture.” She could feel the disgust coming off of Nick in waves, though whether it was directed at the tourist or the vixen, she couldn’t tell. “What about the mammal that beat you up?”  
  
“He came soon after she had started. There was a knock on the door, I figured it was room service so I said to come in.” The bear shifted uncomfortably in his bed. “In walked a tiger with a gun.”  
  
“Was there anything distinctive about the tiger, were his stripes in a funny pattern or did he have any scars?” Judy asked.  
  
“He did have one scar, over his eye.” The bear drew a finger down his left eye. “He hit Charlotte with the gun, then demanded I give him my money and passport. I was so nervous I kept fumbling with the lock on the safe so he hit me with the gun.” He pointed to his black right eye. “He took everything, then he proceeded to beat me, using his paws and the gun. He broke my arm, didn’t stop until I had passed out. The next thing I remember was waking up when the maid screamed.”  
  
“Where was Charlotte while this was all going on?”  
  
“In the corner, crying, terrified.” Hans frowned deeply. “I felt so bad for her, the poor thing.”  
  
Judy and Nick glanced at each other. They already knew what had happened, it was so obvious, but they had to ask anyways. “Did room service ever show up?” Nick asked the bear.  
  
“Well…nein, they didn’t.” The bear blinked at them. “Why?”  
  
“You were set up, my friend,” Nick said bluntly. “Charlotte hustled you.”  
  
Hans blinked slowly then groaned and leaned back into the bed. “Mein Gott…I’m so stupid.” He closed his eye, covering his muzzle with his good arm. “I wish I had never come to this city.”  
  
“We’re going to find whoever did this to you, Mr. Dürr,” Judy assured the bear, closing her notebook and stuffing it into her belt. “Until then, we ask that you stay in the city. We’ll be in touch again.” She nodded to him and started out the door.  
  
“Foxes…I should have known better than to let a fox into my room,” she heard the bear growl behind her.  
  
It every ounce of restraint she had to not turn around and cuss at the bear. Nick was right there, he could hear every word, yet he had still said it. She clenched her paws into fists, her ears laying back with frustration.  
  
She felt Nick’s paw on her back as he gently ushered out of the room. “C’mon, Carrots, we have to report back to the chief.” They walked out of the hospital, his paw never leaving her back until they were in the car. Judy drove, doing her best to not let her anger control her.  
  
They were almost to the station when Nick finally spoke. “You can’t let things like that get to you, Carrots.”  
  
“How are you not angry about this? You heard what he said, he didn’t even give a damn that you were standing right there!” Her grip on the wheel tightened. “He knew you were a police officer, an example of how foxes can be more, yet he still said that.”  
  
“He had just found out that he had been hustled by a fox, it’s a perfectly normal reaction.”  
  
“He still shouldn’t have said that when you were right there!”  
  
“Judy.” His paw was on her shoulder then, rubbing gently over her uniform. “It didn’t bother me, I’m not upset about it. And you shouldn’t be either.”  
  
They arrived at the station and Judy parked the car before turning to him, trying her best to not let her emotions get to her. “I just hate it when mammals generalize like that, especially when they have clear proof right in front of them that it isn’t true.” She looked into his eyes. “I just really hate that he said it when you were right there.”  
  
“It’s fine, really. I’m not upset, I’m not hurt, I’m _fine_.” His paw traveled up to cup her cheek, and she willingly leaned into his touch. He smiled warmly at her. “I appreciate you being offended on my behalf, truly. But it’s alright.” He patted her cheek before pulling his hand back, unbuckling his seat belt. “Now come on. We have a case to solve.”  
  
She nodded and unbuckled, following him out of the cruiser and into the station.

* * *

They filled the chief in on what they knew and he assigned a team to help them out. They all gathered in the bullpen, waiting to hear what he had to say.  
  
“We have a serial robber on our hands, people,” Bogo announced in his loud, booming voice. “Hopps and Wilde have filled you in on it, and I want results. So anything you have on this case goes to them, got it?”  
  
The next week was spent gathering up as much information as they could, which included hotel footage, phone calls made from the hotels, and anything that anyone working in the hotels could remember about the vixen or the tiger.  
  
“This guy’s a pro,” Nick observed, looking over the footage from the last hotel with Judy. “Never lets the camera see his face, makes sure none of the staff can recognize him. Her, on the other paw,” he rewound the tape until it was on the vixen in the elevator, “has zero experience with this. The other girls the tiger uses never show their faces. She’s the one we need to be looking for.”  
  
“We have her profile on Claw’s List,” Francine the elephant told the fox and bunny, getting their attention. She waited until the footage was paused to pin a picture to the board.  
  
Nick winced then whistled lowly. “The bear was right, she doesn’t look much like her picture. She’s probably on drugs, a lot of street vixens do them to take the edge off before they get to work. Not that I would know from experience,” he quickly added when Judy shot him a dirty look. “Just what I heard when I worked on the streets.”  
  
“Is there any way to trace the profile?” Judy asked Francine.  
  
The elephant shook her head. “The techs say it was set up from an internet café and there’s no point in trying to track it.”  
  
The bunny huffed and flopped back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. “So we have nothing. Great.”  
  
“Not necessarily.” Nick stood up and went over to the board, reaching up to hold onto the profile that had been printed off. “There’s no point in trying to track it…but what about answering it?”  
  
Judy’s ears shot up, a tight feeling in her chest. “You want to answer it? There haven’t been any more attacks since last week, Nick.”  
  
“Which means they think they got away with it,” the fox countered, looking at her. “So they’re going to be looking for another hustle. And who could resist a handsome fox answering from out of town, feeling lonely and needing some company.” He turned back to the ad. “We can set it up in another hotel, have you guys in another room while I entertain the girl. It’s a good plan, Carrots.”  
  
“And I bet she would feel pretty comfortable meeting with someone from her own species,” McHorn piped up.  
  
“You see? It’s perfect.” Nick turned to Judy again, confidence radiating from him. “We’ve got this.”  
_  
I don’t like it, I don’t like it at all!_ She pushed it down and just nodded at him. “I guess it’s worth a shot. It’s better than just sitting here.” She shoved down the hurt that welled up inside of her, refusing to let it show. Now was definitely not the time.

* * *

It was all set up and ready to go. Nick had answered the ad and the vixen had agreed to meet him at a hotel. They had gone in early to set up hidden cameras in the room, the hallways, and the hotel lobby. Francine and Wolfmeyer would stay in the lobby while Judy and McHorn were set up in the room adjacent to Nick’s.  
  
Judy had run home before it was set to go down to tell Marian what was going on and to see Junior real quick. She knew she wasn’t going to like what was going to happen and seeing her foster son gave her some comfort. She drove back and went back to the room.  
  
All that was left to do was wait. But they didn’t have to wait too long.  
  
“There she is,” Judy muttered as watched the vixen walk into the hotel lobby, in the same cheap dress and holding the same hand bag. She looked rough, weathered, but the bunny knew that she probably wasn’t that old. She headed towards the elevator, where they had also set up some cameras.  
  
“Nick, are you sure about this?” Judy asked her partner through the wire they had put on him.  
  
“I’ve got this,” the fox assured her, and she saw on the camera that he was striding confidently around the hotel room. “I don’t want you guys busting in until the pimp shows up.”  
  
“If he has a gun it’ll be safer if we get him in the hallway,” she argued.  
  
“No, that’s not enough. I want him caught in the act.” He glanced at where one of the cameras was. “I’ve got this, Carrots. Trust me.”  
  
She sighed and sat back, waiting and watching.  
  
There was a knock on the door and Nick quickly looked at it. “It’s open,” he called, striding over to stand in the middle of the room.  
  
Judy watched as the door opened and Charlotte stepped into the room. The vixen’s face softened when she saw Nick, something that made the bunny’s heart twist in her chest. “Hi.” The female smiled at the fox. “I’m Charlotte.” She saw the look on his face and raised a paw to push her pointed ears back. “I know, not what you were expecting. It’s an old picture.”  
  
“Nah, it’s alright,” the fox assured her, stepping over to help her out of her jacket. “You should see my driver’s license picture.” He hung her jacket up and stepped back.  
  
Charlotte turned around, her eyes raking over Nick’s frame hungrily. “You said you were from the Burrows, right? I’ve heard it’s real cute there.” She lifted her paws to cup his muzzle. “And so are you.” She tugged him down to kiss him.  
  
It hurt. God, it hurt so much that Judy wanted to double over and cry. She blinked rapidly, her paws clenched so tight her claws dug into her palms. _He’s just playing a part, it’s for the case._ But knowing that didn’t ease the pain in her chest.  
  
To his credit, Nick gently pushed the vixen away and took a step away from her. “Ah, can I offer you something to drink?”  
  
Charlotte tilted her head at him. “Can I order some room service?”  
  
“Be my guest.” Nick turned around, glancing at one of the cameras with a grin before heading over to the mini refrigerator in the room.  
  
Charlotte picked up the phone and dialed before speaking low and fast into the receiver. It would only be a matter of time now before the pimp showed up. Judy released a breath and sat back in her seat, watching as Nick listed all of the drink options they had, trying to buy them time.  
  
It only took a few minutes for the tiger to come into view on the hotel lobby cameras. “I don’t see the gun,” she heard Francine say into the wire.  
  
“You want us to follow him?” Wolfmeyer spoke into his wire.  
  
“No, we’ll get him up here,” Judy told them. “Go secure the exits, just in case they manage to escape.”  
  
“Roger.”  
  
The tiger entered the elevator and Judy tensed up, her paw edging over to the gun on her hip. She glanced over at McHorn, who was standing beside her. He gave her a reassuring nod. “Nick knows what he’s doing.”  
  
She nodded and turned her attention back to the camera in the room. Nick had gotten up and gone over to the drawers, digging through it. “Sorry, I almost forgot,” he quipped, getting out some money and handing it to Charlotte.  
  
The vixen took it with a grin and kissed him again, pushing him towards the bed. Judy clenched her paws again and turned her attention to the hall cameras, which showed the tiger striding towards the room. But she could still hear them.  
  
“You like that, huh?”  
  
“Easy, sweetheart, easy. There’s no need to rush, we have time—”  
  
“I just can’t keep my paws off of you—”  
  
“We have time, Charlotte, I can pay for your time—”  
  
She was almost grateful when the tiger burst into the room, gun pointed at the two foxes. “Paws up, both of you!”  
  
Charlotte jumped away from Nick, her paws flying up and her eyes wide. Nick slowly raised his paws, a cool expression on his face. “Easy, big guy, there’s no need for that, I’ll give you whatever you want.”  
  
“Where’s the money?” the tiger demanded, keeping his gun on Nick.  
  
“She has it, it’s in her bra,” Nick told him, then leapt forward when the pimp advanced on Charlotte. “Look, don’t hurt her, I have more money—”  
  
“Shut up!” The tiger backhanded the vixen across the face, sending her flying across the room to slam into the wall. He went towards the open drawer. “Is this where the money is?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, it’s in there!” Nick rushed over to Charlotte, slowly easing her to sit up. “Are you okay?”  
  
“I’m fine,” she grunted, glaring at Nick.  
  
“Go, now!” Judy ordered, bouncing up and running for the door.  
  
McHorn slammed the door open, knocking into the tiger and sending the big cat sprawling on the floor. The gun flew across the room towards Charlotte, who leapt for it. Judy pointed her gun at the vixen. “Don’t even think about it.”  
  
“I-I don’t know him, he just came in here and hit me!” the vixen tried to plead.  
  
“Don’t give us that, sweetheart,” Nick snapped as he pinned the vixen down and cuffed her paws behind her back. “And by the way, you should really let off the crack if you plan on kissing your clients. It’s disgusting.” He looked up at Judy and gave her a wink, making the pain in her chest lessen.  
  
The bunny yanked the vixen to her feet, holding her cuffed paws. She glanced over to see McHorn cuffing the tiger, the big cat snarling but not daring to try to resist arrest. She looked over to Nick, who was wiping his mouth and scowling. “Get these two out of my face.”  
  
She passed Charlotte to one of the other officers who had come into the room and stood by Nick. “Hey. You okay?”  
  
“I’m fine.” He spat and gagged, a frown on his face. “Seriously, that was probably the grossest thing I’ve ever had to do. Never kiss a crack whore, Carrots.”  
  
“Noted.” She hated how happy it made her to know that he had hated being kissed a much as she had hated seeing it happen. She put her paw on his shoulder and led him out of the room. “Let’s go home. We can handle those two in the morning.”  
  
He nodded, following her out.

* * *

The next morning they were all assembled in the bullpen, Bogo joining them this time. They filled him on the events of the night before, the buffalo nodding as he listened. “So where are they now?”  
  
“They’re both in holding,” Nick told him. “The pimp, Big Toni, has a lawyer with him, some low-life who thinks defending criminals is a good way of life. He won’t be talking.”  
  
“And the girl Charlotte, real name Ella Sanchez, is still waiting for a public defender to show up for her,” Judy added.  
  
“The pimp doesn’t have anyone he calls for his girls?” Bogo cupped his chin with a hoof. “Could be a good angle for you to work off of. See if you can get her to go against him.” He clasped his hooves behind his back. “Mr. Dürr is on his way for the line-up. Hopefully he can pick the right mammals.” He nodded at them. “Good work, everyone. Keep at it. I want this case closed as soon as possible.” He walked out of the room.  
  
Clawhauser came in right after him, all smiles. “Good morning, everyone. Judy, a giraffe just showed up, says he’s here for Ella?”  
  
“A giraffe lawyer, I wonder how he fits into courtrooms,” Nick quipped.  
  
Judy gave her partner a shove then turned to the cheetah. “Have one of the officers take him to her, we’ll be down to join them in just a bit.”  
  
Clawhauser nodded and left, and Judy turned towards her partner. “You are such a pain, you know that?”  
  
“You know you love me,” he teased her, a grin on his lips.  
  
_I do, I really do._ She pushed it down and just shook her head at him. “Let’s go see if Mr. Dürr is here yet. McHorn, Wolfmeyer, go make sure everyone is ready for the line-up.”  
  
An hour later they had a positive ID on Ella, but not on Toni. Hans hadn’t been able to pick the tiger out of the line-up, which wasn’t uncommon. It was disappointing and would make the case a bit harder to close, but Judy had confidence that they could turn the vixen against her pimp.  
  
“He didn’t even send a lawyer for her, it shows that he doesn’t give a crap about her,” she told Nick as they walked towards the interrogation room Ella had been set up in. “So what do we have on him?”  
  
Nick flipped open the file in his paws. “Big Toni, aka Antonio Chauhan. He’s got a pretty long record, everything from petty theft to—oh what a surprise!—battery and assault. He was never sentenced on those charges because all of his victims just magically disappeared or left town.” The fox shook his head, disgust in his eyes. “What an ass.”  
  
They stopped just outside the interrogation room, Judy gathering up her file on Ella. She bit her lip then turned to Nick. “Maybe I should be the one to talk to her. She might not be very open with you, since you were the one who hustled her last night.”  
  
“By all means,” he gestured towards the door. “I’ll stay out here, watch through the glass. You come out if you need me.”  
  
The bunny nodded and opened the door, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.  
  
The vixen was seated at the table, fidgety paws and shifty eyes, sipping out of a can of soda. _She must be starting to feel some withdrawl._ Judy made her way over to the table, hopping up to chair and taking a seat across from the vixen.  
  
The giraffe lawyer seated next to Ella reached out a hoof to her. “Trevor Long, I’m Miss Sanchez’s lawyer.”  
  
“You must be here pro bono,” the bunny observed, giving his hoof a firm shake before withdrawing her own paw.  
  
“I catch a few of them every year, helps keep me an honest lawyer.” The giraffe grinned at her. “I know, sounds like an oxymoron.”  
  
“You said it, not me.” The bunny turned her attention to the vixen. “Judy Hopps, ZPD.”  
  
“Yeah, I know who you are, you were all over the news a year ago,” Ella told her, eyes narrowed and lips turned up in a sneer. “You were talkin’ smack about us preds one minute then the next you’re working with a fox. What a fuckin’ hypocrite.”  
  
She wanted to slap her already.  
  
“Now, Miss Sanchez and I are ready to tell you whatever you need to know,” Long interjected, trying to save the conversation from going completely downhill.  
  
“Shove off, I don’t need your help!” Ella snarled at him, her paws tight on the can of soda. She glared at Judy. “I ain’t gonna tell you nothin’. You can’t make me talk against Toni. He’s my gangsta, my daddy. He takes care of me.”  
  
“Oh yeah, he takes of you alright,” Judy commented, opening up the file and laying it on the table. “He really took care you, taking you off the street when you were sixteen and pimping you out.”  
  
“It was my own choice,” Ella argued. “I ran away from home, my mother was an alcoholic and she didn’t listen when I told her that her boyfriends were tryin’ to get with me. Toni took me in, gave me shelter, food, clothes. Yeah, I sleep around for him, but it’s my own choice. I love him.”  
  
“He doesn’t love you, Ella.” Judy pinned the girl with a firm look. “He didn’t even send in a lawyer for you, you’re lucky this guy showed up. You would have been stuck with a public defender who doesn’t give a crap about you. You should listen to this guy, he’s actually trying to help you.”  
  
“Bite me,” the vixen growled. “I ain’t talkin’. Toni will take care of me, you’ll see.” She went back to her soda, refusing to look at the bunny.  
  
Judy glanced over at Long, who looked at a loss about what to do. She sighed and stood up. “I guess there’s nothing else to talk about, then.” She glanced at Ella and pulled a bag of blueberries out of her pocket, sliding them over to her. “Here. You’ll need these.” She turned to go before stopping, then looked back at the vixen. “Have you ever been through full withdrawl, Ella?”  
  
She looked up at her, eyes guarded. “What?”  
  
Judy hopped up on the table, stomping over to grab Ella’s arm, lifting her sleeve to see the bald spots on her arm, gross and infected. She held it up for the vixen to look at. “Look at you. You’re already shaking, you don’t feel good.” She got in her face. “You’re going to be lying in your cell, curled up on the floor, puking your guts out. Is that what you want?”  
  
“Shut up!” Ella yelped, snatching her arm back.  
  
Judy grabbed the vixen’s chin, forcing her to look at her. “That’s what’s going to happen to you, Ella. Unless you work with us, we can help you break out of this cycle. You could be a better person.”  
  
“Do you wanna be my mommy?” Ella mocked, sneering again. “Lady cops _love_ saving girls like me.” She yanked away from Judy, curling her tail around herself. “Well, just so you know, I like my life just the way it is. So you can fuck off. You and that douche bag partner of yours.”  
  
Long put a long arm between them. “Officer, can I have a moment with my client.”  
  
“Take all the time you need.” Judy gathered up the file and hopped down, stalking over to the door. “It’s not going to make a difference.” She opened it and stepped out of the room, slamming it shut behind her. She looked up to see Nick looking at her, his lips drawn down in deep frown. “What?”  
  
“What the hell was that?” He pointed at the one-way glass.  
  
“She was being uncooperative, I gave her an option to help herself and she declined.”  
  
“You backed her into a corner, Hopps. You made her feel like trash.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not the Judy I know. Where’s all of your usual compassion? What happened to ‘recognize that change starts with you’?”  
  
“I gave her that choice, she said no,” Judy huffed, walking away from him.  
  
She heard him hurrying to catch up to her, a paw catching her arm. “Hey, don’t just walk away from me.”  
  
“I’m done talking about this, if she’s not going to help herself then there’s no point.” She yanked away from him, heading up the stairs. “The DA has her on helping a robbery and attempted assault, and we’ve got Toni on the robbery. We’ll get one of his other girls to testify against him.”  
  
“And what about Ella?”  
  
She stopped and turned around to look at him. “What about her?”  
  
“What happens to her? You’re just going to let her rot in a jail cell?” The fox was glaring at her now. “She needs help, Carrots, I know you know that. She’s sick, she’s been brainwashed by that asshole. She probably has Stockholm Syndrome or something. We have to help her.”  
  
“We don’t have to help her do anything, she tried to sleep with you!” It just came out of her mouth, she hadn’t meant for it to, but she was getting flustered. “Are you forgetting that she forced her tongue down your throat??”  
  
Nick blinked, gaping at her for a moment before getting his bearings back. “Of course I didn’t, but that was her job. Why are you taking this so personally?”  
  
“I’m not,” she said quickly, turning her back to him so he wouldn’t see the flush rising in her ears. “I just don’t see the point of helping someone who isn’t willing to help herself.”  
  
“Officer Hopps?”  
  
Nick and Judy both turned to see a doe standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at them. The bunny handed the file to Nick and hurried down to her. “Yes, hello. Nick, this is Pippa Chital, she works for children’s services.” She looked up at her, eyes nervous. “Is everything alright? Is there news on Junior?”  
  
“Actually yes, there is.” Pippa opened her briefcase and held up a picture of the vixen Judy had just been interrogating. “Do you have an Ella Sanchez in custody?”  
  
“Yes, she’s in one of the interrogation rooms.” The bunny blinked, confused. “Why?”  
  
The doe put the picture back, closing her bag with a click. “I need to speak with her. You’ll want to come. You too, Officer Wilde.”  
  
“What’s going on?” Nick asked, coming down to stand by Judy.  
  
Pippa looked between the two officers. “We finally have a DNA match for Baby Boy Doe.” She gave them a placating smile. “We need to tell Ella that you two have her son.”  
  
It was like a punch to the gut, the way all the air inside of her left all at once. Judy felt like she would have fallen over if Nick hadn’t chosen that moment to grip her arm tight in his paw. They both looked at each other, shock covering their faces.  
  
_Ella…is Junior’s mother??  
  
_ “She…she’s right this way.” Judy made herself walk with Nick back to the room they had just left, her legs feeling like they would give away at any moment. Her mind was wheeling, her heart pounding so hard in her chest she felt like it might jump out on its own. Of all the things she had expected to go down today, this had not been one of them.  
  
They reached the room and Judy turned to Pippa, her eyes pleading. “Let me go in. Please.”  
  
“I’ll go with you,” Nick told her. When she looked at him he went on, “We’re the ones who have been taking care of him. I’m sure she would like to know how her son has been doing.”  
  
“That’s fine with me.” Pippa handed them Junior’s file without complaint. “I’m going to speak with your chief, let him know the good news.” She nodded to them and walked off.  
  
There was silence for a few moments before they turned to each other, eyes wide and filled with so many emotions. Shock, anger, disgust, agony…and pain. There was so much pain. Judy knew that Nick was afraid of losing Junior just as much as she was. She gulped and gripped the file tight as she opened the door. Nick walked in behind her, closing it.  
  
Ella looked up at them, seeming to curl into herself. “What, you back to yell at me some more?”  
  
“No, Ella. And…” The bunny took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for yelling at you before. I was out of line.” She walked over and hopped onto the seat, waiting for Nick to join her before continuing. “I have some good news for you.”  
  
“What? You gonna let me go?”  
  
“No,” Nick injected. “Even better.” He took the file from Judy and opened it, sliding it across the table to the vixen. “We have your son.”  
  
The look of distrust melted away as soon as Ella saw Junior’s picture. She shoved everything else away from her as she scrambled to drag it over to her, picking up the picture and staring at it with wide, watery eyes. “Oh my god…he’s alive??” One paw went over her mouth, tears falling down her face. “I can’t believe it…Nicky is alive!” She hugged the picture to her chest, rocking back and forth.  
  
Judy couldn’t help but blink at the name. “Nicky?”  
  
“I named him Nicholas, but the other girls always called him Nicky and it just sorta stuck.” Ella set the picture down and wiped at her eyes, looking at them. “Toni told me he died during New Years. I-I’d blacked out, overdosed, y’know, the holidays are bad.” She looked at the picture again. “I was heartbroken…but you’re telling me he’s alive?”  
  
“Yes,” Judy said softly, unable to not be touched by Ella’s first sincere sign of tender emotion. “We’ve been fostering him.”  
  
“Toni told you he was dead?” Nick asked the vixen, leaning across the table towards her. “And you’re still willing to defend him?”  
  
“I-I…” She looked away, conflicted emotions flickering over her eyes.  
  
“Ella, look at me.” Judy waited until the vixen’s gaze was on her. “I found Ju—Nicky, along with three other cubs who were all being used for child pornography.”  
  
“Wait, wait.” Ella held up her paws. “Child porn? You’re sure?”  
  
“Yes.” Judy nodded. “Toni gave away your son, Ella. He was going to let these people use him to put those kind of videos on the internet. He told you he was dead.” Judy quickly pulled out her phone, bringing up her pictures and bringing up the best one she had of Junior. She hated using her son as leverage, but it was all she had… “Look at him. Look at your beautiful boy. You missed so much time with him, all because of Toni.”  
  
Ella carefully took the phone from Judy, flipping through the pictures. All was silent for a bit before the vixen growled out, “That bastard. He took my Nicky away from me.” She looked up, her eyes hard once more. “I’m not gonna let him get away with that.” She looked at her giraffe lawyer and nodded. “I’ll testify. I’ll do whatever it takes.”  
  
A weight lifted off of Judy’s shoulder and she gave the vixen a smile. “Good. We’ll make sure you’re safe until the hearing.” She took her phone from Ella, sliding the picture from the file over to her. “Until then, hold on to this. To remind you.”  
  
Ella hugged the picture to her chest again, looking up at the bunny. “And…if I do this…can you help me get Nicky back?”  
  
This day was just determined to hurt her. There was so much pain in her heart right now, the idea that she might lose her son almost too much to bear. But she forced herself to nod, giving the vixen a smile she didn’t mean. “It’s gonna take a lot of time, and you have a lot of work to do.”  
  
“I’ll do whatever it takes.” Ella looked at the picture of Junior, her eyes soft and warm. “I’ll do anything to get my Nicky back. He’s my whole world.”  
  
“I’ll need to talk to your DA about a deal,” Long told the officers.  
  
“We’ll get him in right away. C’mon, Carrots.” Nick gently gripped Judy’s paw and led her out of the room, taking the file with them. When they were out he turned to her, his paw now on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”  
  
She nodded, feeling numb now. “Yeah…we have to go tell the chief and Pippa.” She turned to go, but his grip stopped her.  
  
“Judy. Don’t lie to me.”  
  
She stood still, her heart racing and her eyes burning from wanting to cry. But she couldn’t allow that. Not now. “Please, Nick…” She looked at him, begging him to understand.  
  
He nodded, slowly, letting go of her. “Okay. Later.”  
  
She nodded and headed towards Bogo’s office.

* * *

“I don’t want to lose him!”  
  
“Shhh, I know, I know.”  
  
“It isn’t fair, we’ve been taking care of him, why did this have to happen??”  
  
Judy sobbed in Nick’s arms on their couch, her face pressed against his chest and her paws gripping the back of his shirt. Marian had left and they had already put Junior down for the night and she just couldn’t hold it in anymore. There was so much agony inside of her, so much hurt in her heart and it had all finally broken her down.  
  
Nick held her tight, his muzzled pressed to the top of her head and his arms holding her tight, his tail wrapped around her as well. “Shh, it’s gonna be alright, we’ll figure this out.”  
  
“She wants him back, Nick, the courts always go with the mother.” She sobbed, hitting her head against his collarbone.  
  
“She’s a known prostitute and a drug addict, there’s no way a judge in their right mind would ever grant her custody.” His paws went to her face, holding it carefully as he turned it up to look into her eyes. “We can provide him with a stable home, the system will work with us, Judy.” He kissed her cheeks, which only made her cry more. “Please, please stop crying.”  
  
“Why did she have to come into our lives?” the bunny wept, closing her eyes and leaning her forehead against his chest. “I wish…I wish she would just…disappear.”  
  
“Don’t say that, you don’t mean it.” He hugged her again, nuzzling between her ears.  
  
She knew he was right, she didn’t really mean it, but it was the hurt talking for her. “I wish she would disappear…it would be better if she just disappeared…” She continued to cry until she fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

She was woken up early the next morning by the ringing of her phone. She blinked groggily, the memories of last night coming back to her in a rush and her ears flushing bright red as she realized she was still in Nick’s arms. She wiggled away from him and scrambled for her phone, grabbing it and answering it. “H-hello?”  
  
“Hopps, where are you?” It was the chief.  
  
“I’m at home. Sir, it’s early, what’s going on?”  
  
“You and Wilde need to come down the station immediately.”  
  
“Carrots?” Nick stirred next to her, yawning and rubbing his eyes. “Who is it?”  
  
“It’s the chief, shhh.” She put her phone on speaker. “We’re both here, what’s going on?”  
  
“A call just came in. Ella Sanchez is dead.”  
  
Her heart stopped the same moment her phone fell from her paws.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, i'm sorry. and it's gonna stay pretty dramatic for the next two chapters. but just stick with me, more fluff is coming our way, i promise. let me know what you thought, send me questions about it on tumblr, all that good jazz. if you'll excuse me, i'm gonna go hide now.


	6. just stay alive (that would be enough)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judy doesn't handle guilt well and everything goes to shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is this?? two updates in two days? whaaaaaaat? idk i haven't been able to get this chapter to feel right so i wrote it down and it's kind of a mess but i feel like it's what the story needed at this point. also don't expect this quick of updates to happen very often, I just needed to get this out of my head. the next chapter should be the end of this little drama trip. there is some fluff in this one, i hope it doesn't feel completely out of place.

“Who killed Ella?” Judy stood in the corner of the investigation room, her arms crossed over her chest as she observed the tiger sitting at the table.  
  
The bunny had raced to the station as soon as she had gotten her bearings back and had spent the morning fighting to get Big Toni back in the station. His lawyer, a self-righteous wombat, had argued with her for almost two hours over the phone before he had agreed to bring his client back in, much to his disgruntlement. The tiger had been silent since he had arrived, but Judy knew that he had something to do with this.  
  
Toni glanced at her from the corners of his eyes before glancing over at his lawyer. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowed. “I did.”  
  
“C’mon, Toni, we both know you don’t have big enough balls to do that,” she retorted, pushing off the wall and walking towards the table, hopping up on it to stare him down.  
  
“What did you say to me?” he demanded, paws in fists as he glared at her.  
  
“You heard me. We both know you don’t have what it takes to kill your own girl, so I’ll ask you again: Who. Killed. Ella.” Her expression didn’t change, eyes trained on him as she silently challenged him to lie to her again.  
  
She wasn’t stupid. The tiger had been under constant surveillance since they had arrested him at the hotel, there was no way he could have done this without anyone noticing him slipping out. But he had to know who had done this, pimps always seemed to run in the same circles and news traveled fast in their world.  
  
Toni took a moment before leaning back in his chair, eyes fixed over her shoulder at the one-way glass. “I told you. I killed her. I slipped out last night, found out where you guys were hiding her and did her myself. Bitch was gonna turn, so she got what was coming to her.”  
  
“Toni, listen, if you make a deal now we can keep you from going to jail,” the wombat lawyer tried to reason with his client.  
  
“Fuck off, mate, I know what I’m doin’,” Toni snapped at the lawyer, fangs bared as he stared him down. “I killed the bitch, I’ll do the time. They already got me on robbery, I’m already gonna go to jail, I don’t give a shit.” He huffed and crossed his arms again, seeming to curl into himself a bit. “I’m not stupid.”  
  
Judy narrowed her eyes at him before turning around and hopping down, walking towards the door. “Then there’s nothing else to discuss.”  
  
“You’re gonna wanna watch your back, little bunny,” Toni called to her. “Everyone knows about this.”  
  
She paused, looking over her shoulder at the tiger. “If everyone knows, shouldn’t you be worried, too?”  
  
“I’ll do my time,” Toni said, huffing before mumbling under his breath, “I ain’t gettin’ killed over this.”  
  
She turned around and marched back over to him, hopping onto the table and grabbing his shirt, shaking him as her eyes flashed with fury. “Tell me who did it! Tell me, who gave the order to kill Ella?!”  
  
“What do you care?” he sneered, easily pushing her away, almost making her fall off the table. “I heard you got a baby out of it. Ella can’t take the kid away from you now, huh? You should be grateful. Now buzz off, get your DA or whoever in here. I’ll do my time, you solve your case. End of story.”  
  
She glared at him, paws clenched at her sides. “I’ll find out who did this, and when I do, I’ll make sure to bury you in the deepest hole I can find for with-holding this information.” She hopped off and stomped over to the door. “Call me when you’re ready to get your head out of your ass.” She left the room, slamming the door shut on her way out.

* * *

“How did she die?” Judy asked the ME. She had gone down to the morgue right after she had talked to Toni, knowing that she would have to do this sooner or later.  
  
The ME, a little black mole, peered up at the bunny from behind wide-rimmed glasses. “She died from lacerations to her throat, abdomen, and wrists. Whoever did this knew where to cut, she would have bled out in no time.”  
  
Judy winced at the news, her ears falling down her back. “And…was she hurt? You know, any other way.”  
  
The mole gave her a sympathetic look. “It wasn’t anything she hadn’t already gone through in her life.”  
  
Judy pressed her fingers to her muzzle, trying to keep the disgust rising in her to a minimum. She didn’t need her stomach deciding to make her sick. She looked at the ME. “Can I see her?”  
  
The mole nodded, leading Judy over to a table where a body was covered with a sheet. He pulled the sheet down, and there was Ella. The bunny did her best to not cry out at the sight of the vixen, her face cold and dead, nothing like the hopeful fox she had left just the day before.  
  
Judy nodded to the ME. “Thank you. I won’t be too long.” She waited until he had left the room to really take a good look at Ella. She covered her mouth with a paw, the other gripping her arm tight.  
  
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, rapidly trying to blink away tears that threatened to fall. “This is all my fault. I promised you would be safe, I promised that we would help you. And now look at you.” She reached out, shaking, to take Ella’s cold paw in her own, grasping it tightly. “I promise, I’m gonna find whoever did this. I’ll make sure they’re put away and they never, ever get out.” She nodded at the body, determination filling her very essence.   
  
She let go of Ella’s paw and turned to leave, head held high and shoulders squared back. She had a job to do.

* * *

The next two days were filled with pulling in as many witnesses as she could find, which included other prostitutes who had known Ella. None of the other girls who worked for Toni were willing to say anything much to help, other than that they were sorry it had happened.  
  
“Ella was a real free spirit,” one of the girls, a racoon, told Judy. “She was always the one who took care of the new girls when they came in. It’s such a shame this happened.”  
  
“She had a temper, was always arguing with Toni about something,” another girl, a tigress, told her. “She really should have learned to just keep her mouth a shut. It was only a matter of time before someone got a hold of her.”  
  
Judy dragged Ella’s lawyer in on the third day, hoping that he would know something about what had happened.  
  
“Look, if I knew who killed her, I would tell you,” Long told her, seated uncomfortably in the interrogation room.   
  
“You were the last one to see her, which puts you in quite a sticky situation, Trevor,” Judy told him, hoping it would scare him into talking.  
  
“I don’t know who did this! It wasn’t me, why would I kill Ella? I wanted to help her, she had a real chance at getting into rehab instead of jail.” The giraffe rubbed his face with his hooves. “Look, this was the first pro bono case I caught, my boss was the one who asked me to take it.” He looked around then leaned down close to her, talking low. “You didn’t hear this from me, but last year there was a scandal between our office and one of the more well-known pimps in the city. It was all swept under the rug, but I think they’ve been trying to get the police off their backs by taking cases like this.”  
  
“You’re sure?” she asked, her eyes wide as she looked at him. Could this be the lead she had been looking for?  
  
“I’m not one hundred percent, but I wouldn’t put it totally passed them.” Trevor leaned back, looking almost frightened. “I just started working for the firm six months ago, I’m paying off loans from law school and I needed the money. Please, you can’t let anyone know that I told you this.”  
  
“No one will know,” she promised him, her heart thumping in her chest. Finally, something she could go off of.  
  
Judy walked Trevor out of the station and was about to head to her desk when a paw caught her shoulder. “Hey, how is everything going?”  
  
She blinked up at her fox, forcing a smile onto her face. “It’s fine. I think I might finally have a lead, I’ll tell you about it later.”  
  
Nick nodded, giving her an easy smile back. “You know, my ma wanted to take us out to dinner with Junior tonight. It could be a good break for you, get away from all of this for a few hours.”  
  
The bunny hesitated, thinking it over. Truthfully, since Ella’s death, she had been avoiding spending time with Junior. Every time she looked at the kit all she could see was Ella’s face, elated, when she had told her that he was alive. All she could see was the vixen’s determination to get better, to get her son back. How could she face her foster son knowing that she had wished for his birth mother to disappear? It just wasn’t something she could bear right now.  
  
“I’m afraid I’m gonna have to take a rain check on that,” she told Nick, giving him an apologetic smile. “I need to follow up on this lead right away.”  
  
“You can’t get away for even a couple of hours?” he quipped, but there was something behind the usual teasing…something she wasn’t sure she was ready to face yet.  
  
She shook her head. “Now just really isn’t a good time. Why don’t you go ahead, don’t want to disappoint her completely.” She patted his shoulder. “Another time.” She walked away from him, able to feel his eyes on her back.

* * *

The lead Trevor had given her was good. The firm he was working for was dirty, having been investigated before for witness tampering and hiding evidence. The lawyers were known for defending the lowest of the low, thieves and drug lords and murderers, even rapists, and getting their clients off with either minimal or no charges, nothing that would get them more than a month of jail with maybe a few months of community service. So it was very likely that at least one of them knew what had happened with Ella.  
  
Judy spent the next few days investigating, going over all the old reports and talking to the officers that had been involved in past cases. A few of them told her that they had suspected foul play and they wouldn’t be surprised if the firm had a hand in what had happened to the vixen. For Judy, it was enough to make her want to bring some of the higher ups in for interrogation, but Bogo refused to even let her try until she got more definitive proof.  
  
So she went looking for some.  
  
That was how she ended up at the home of a well-known pimp, Wayne Aiza. She stayed parked across the street, binoculars in paw, waiting to catch him in the act of…something. He was one of the clients the firm worked with, and she knew they would come running to his aid.  
  
“C’mon, you son of a bitch, do something,” she growled under her breath, frowning as she looked through the binoculars. Her phone buzzed and she looked at it. Nick was calling her, probably wondering where she was. She didn’t have time for this. She rejected the call and went back to watching gasping when she saw the pimp come out of his house, dragging a screaming ocelot girl behind him. The pimp himself was a huge jaguar, just a little smaller than Big Toni.  
  
Judy grabbed her gun and got out of her car, running over to them. “ZPD! Don’t move!”  
  
Instead of surrendering like she had expected him too, Wayne pulled out a gun and fired at her. She ducked behind the car and waited for the gunshots to stop before firing back at him, her heart racing. She grabbed for her radio at her hip. “This is Officer Judy Hopps! I’m in Savanna Square, off Wood and Fifth street! Shots fired, requesting backup!”   
  
“Sending backup your way!” came Clawhauser’s voice over the radio. “Are you hit??”  
  
“I’m fine, but he has a girl with him! Hurry!” Judy fired another round before dashing over, trying to avoid the bullets the pimp fired at her. “Cease fire! ZPD!”  
  
“Fuck you, copper!” Wayne pointed his gun at the ocelot, who screeched and sobbed as he held her by the throat. “One more move and I blow her brains out!”  
  
The bunny’s eyes went wide, and she slowly put her hands up. “There’s no need to hurt the girl, I just want to talk to you.”  
  
“Yeah, everyone knows what you’re here for,” the jaguar sneered at her, his fangs showing. “You should really let it go, Ella was just a worthless whore. And you got a baby out of it, right? You should be grateful that bitch is dead.”  
  
She saw red. She charged and kicked him full force in the face with her feet, knocking him to the ground. She threw the gun away and kicked him once more before flipping him onto his front. She grabbed him by his scruff and shook him, her eyes wide and manic. “WHO. KILLED. ELLA??” She shook him again, harder. “Answer me! Tell me who killed her, or I swear I’ll blow YOUR brains in right now!”  
  
“Stop it, please!” the ocelot screamed, curled away from the officer as the lights in the house were turned on.  
  
Suddenly Judy was tackled off the jaguar, held back by her arms by a familiar set of arms. “Judy, that’s enough!” Nick’s voice yelled in her ear, but her heart was pounding too loud for her to register his words.  
  
She kicked in his grip, trying to get back to the pimp. “Was it you?? Did you give the order to kill her?” She kicked again, twisting her body in an attempt to get away from her partner. “Answer me!”  
  
“That’s enough!” Nick pinned her against the picket fence that went around the house. She screamed and struggled in his grip, feeling almost savage. In the back of her mind she wondered if this was what if felt like when you were hit with a Night Howler.  
  
She struggled for a bit more before going limp, panting, the adrenaline wearing off. Nicks hold on her loosened and eventually he was just holding her up. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”  
  
She glanced over at the jaguar, her eyes wide and horrified as she looked at what she had done. His face was covered with blood, his nose was probably broken and both of his eyes looked swollen. She looked over at the ocelot and her heart dropped when she saw how terrified the girl looked, staring at her with wide eyes as she huddled against the fence.  
  
Judy heard police sirens heading their way and groaned, closing her eyes. She was so in for it.

* * *

“Insubordination, carrying a firearm instead of a tranq gun, assault, scaring a girl half to death, do I even need to go on?!” Bogo paced back and forth in his office, glaring at the bunny who was seated in front of his desk. “Not to mention digging into the personal lives of lawyers without permission! What were you thinking, Hopps! Are you trying to jeopardize your career?”  
  
“No, sir,” she uttered, her head down and her ears laid back as she tried to make herself seem as small as possible.  
  
“If Aiza had gone suffered permanent damage, you could have gone to jail! And I would have had to let them take you. When are you going to learn to stop doing things so impulsively?”  
  
“I’m sorry.” She didn’t think it was possible to feel any lower than she already did.  
  
Bogo huffed and stomped back over his desk, sitting down firmly in his chair. “I have half a mind to take you off of this case.”  
  
She jumped up, slamming her paws onto his desk. “Sir—!”  
  
“But!” Bogo gave her a stern look and she quickly sat back down. He waited a bit before continuing, “But, as I told Wilde the other day, I would rather you investigate legally instead of going off half-cocked on your own. Though apparently that still doesn’t help.”  
  
“Nick wanted me off the case?” The betrayal she felt at that statement was almost overwhelming.  
  
“Is that really the question you should be asking?” Bogo fixed her with a glare until she sat back down again. “What you did would normally warrant suspension, without pay, and anger management. But, you did save the ocelot girl. She told the other officers that Aiza would have beaten her bloody if you hadn’t shown up. So you lucked out.” He slammed his hoof on his desk, startling her. “You won’t be so lucky next time, Hopps. Start using your brain, figure out legal ways to get this case solved.”  
  
She nodded, sliding off the chair and towards the door. She stopped when he called to her, turning to look at him.  
  
“I understand why this case is so personal to you,” the buffalo told her, a compassionate expression on his face that she had only seen one other time. “But you can’t let it get to you like this.” He leaned back in his chair. “Go home. Hug your son. Get some rest. Come back tomorrow with a fresh set of eyes.”  
  
She nodded, slowly. “Yes, sir.” She walked out of the office, still a little hurt.  
  
“Hey.” She turned to see Nick leaning against the wall beside the door. “How did it go?”  
  
“How did you know where I was?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes at him.  
  
The fox sighed and pushed himself off the wall, his paws shoved into his pockets. “I followed you. I was in a car a couple of houses down. I was hoping I could keep you from doing anything stupid, but I was too late.”  
  
“You followed me?” She glared at him, the betrayal from before rearing its ugly head inside of her. “Bogo told me that you wanted me off the case. Is that true?”  
  
He studied her a moment before nodded, his lips turned down in a frown. “Yeah.”  
  
“What the hell, Nick?!” she exploded, stomping her foot. “This is my case!”  
  
“And look what’s happened to you because of it!” he snapped, raising his arms. “Look at you, Judy! You don’t sleep, you barely eat, I don’t even think you’ve been home for more than twelve hours in the past two weeks! This isn’t healthy!”  
  
The door was swung open and Bogo glared down at them. “Wilde! Hopps! Not here! Go home!” Then the door was slammed shut, making the two smaller mammals wince.  
  
Judy glared at Nick before turning and stomping down the stairs. He followed her and she could hear him muttering under his breath. They grabbed their stuff from their desks before going outside to their car. They got, Nick on the driver’s side and Judy on the passenger side. Not a word was spoken between them as they drove back to their apartment building.  
  
They got up the apartment and Marian opened the door to greet them with a smile that soon faded as she took them in. “Is…is everything alright?”  
  
“Ma, can you take Junior for the night?” Nick asked his mother, stepping into the apartment.  
  
“Of course,” the older vixen agreed, eyeing Judy who just stepped in with a huff. “Let me gather a few things and we’ll be going.” Marian hurried towards Junior’s room.  
  
The fox kit in question was playing in the living room, having looked up when they came in. Judy’s heart constricted when he looked at her, eyes questioning and a little sad. He sat up and lifted his arms towards her. “Mama?”  
  
She turned away from him, hearing the hurt noise that came from him and trying not to cry. She just couldn’t look at him…she just couldn’t.  
  
Marian came back with an overnight back for Junior and gathered the kit into her arms. “Say bye bye to mama and papa.”  
  
“Papa?”  
  
“We’ll see you soon, kiddo, don’t worry.” The fox gave the kit a warm smile.  
  
Junior looked at Judy once more, his little muzzle turned down in a pout. “Mama?”  
  
The bunny turned away from him again. “Go with Gramma, Junior.”  
  
Marian looked between them before sighing, fixing them with a firm look. “Get it worked out.” Then she walked out, closing the door behind her.  
  
There was silence between them for a few minutes before Nick broke it. “You won’t even look at him.” He looked at her, his eyes filled with concern. “Ever since she died, you won’t even look at your own son.”  
  
“He’s not my son,” she muttered, wrapping her arms tight around herself. “He was never my son.”  
  
“We both know you don’t mean that.” Nick walked over to her, cupping her chin in his hand and tilting her head up so he could look into her eyes, searching her expression. “You love him.”  
  
Her gaze softened, just a bit. “Of course I do.” She pulled away from him, taking a step back. “But he was never mine to keep. Even when I agreed to foster him I knew I would lose him whenever we found his real mother.”  
  
“She’s dead, Judy—”  
  
“And it’s my fault.” She looked at him, her eyes pleading with him to understand, to try to see what she was going through. “I told Ella that we would keep her safe. I told her that we could give her a better life, that she could be a part of her son’s life. And now…now she’s dead.”  
  
“Judy, that isn’t your fault.” Nick gripped her arms in his paws, giving her a gentle shake. “You are not the one who cut her up. You are not the one who spilled her blood.”  
  
“I should have been there with her!” the bunny exclaimed, pushing him away before covering her face with her paws, finally allowing some tears to fall. “I told her she would be safe! I should have been the one to drive her to the townhouse, if I had been there I could have kept her from getting snatched, from getting killed! But I decided to go home and pout because I wanted to keep her son from her!” She let out a sob, grabbing at her ears and tugging on them, self-loathing filling her being.  
  
“I may have not killed her physically, but the moment I heard she was Junior’s mother I wanted her to disappear. And I got my wish!” She sobbed again, every nasty feeling she had towards herself coming to surface. “And now…now I wish I could disappear! I wish I could have taken her place! At least Junior w-would have to grow up wondering why his mother isn’t around!”   
  
He grabbed her again and shook her, his eyes own eyes wide as he stared at her. “Don’t say that!”  
  
“How can I ever face him again, knowing that I let his mother die?” Judy sobbed, ducking her head, too ashamed to look at him. “What am I going to tell him when he’s older and starts asking about his mother?”  
  
“Judy!”  
  
She gasped when he pinned her to the wall, his paws holding hers on either side of her head. She stared at him, violet meeting green, her heart racing in her chest. “N-Nick?! What are you—?”  
  
“Just. Stop. Talking.” He fixed her with a glare, his nose almost touching hers. “Now you listen to me. That boy loves you. And you haven’t been here for him and that’s what’s hurting him. Your own self-pity is what’s hurting him right now. He’s young, he doesn’t understand what’s going on, all he knows is the mammal he calls mama hasn’t been around and even when she is around she won’t look at him. If you keep doing this, he’s going to think you abandoned him, and then you’ll be no better than Toni.”  
  
His words sunk in and her breath caught in her throat. He was right, of course he was. She hadn’t been fair to the kit. In her own petty quest to make up for her sins she had forgotten the reason why she was fighting so hard in the first place. She remembered what Ella had said in the interrogation room, something she had understood because she felt the same way.  
  
_“He’s my whole world…”_  
  
“You can’t do this alone,” Nick continued, keeping her paws in his as he slowly brought them up to his muzzle. He pressed her fingers to his lips, making her ears turn bright pink and sending her heart racing in her chest. He looked into her eyes, leaving her breathless. “Let me help you. Please. You don’t have to go through this alone.”  
  
Of course. How had she forgotten? Nick had always been there, even when she didn’t deserve it he always helped her out. All this time she had been struggling to solve this by herself she had forgotten about her partner.  
  
Judy pulled her paws out of his and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into his chest. He immediately returned her embrace, holding her tightly to himself. “I’m sorry,” she spoke, muffled in his shirt.   
  
“It’s okay,” he murmured, and she shivered when she felt his breath by her ear. “You aren’t alone. It takes more than that to get rid of me.”  
  
She laughed and lightly hit him, tilting her head up to look at him. “You’re insufferable.”  
  
He winked at her. “You know you love me.”  
  
“Do I know that?” She bit her lip before leaning up on her tip-toes, reaching up to tip his head down so she could reach him better. She took in a deep breath before gently rubbing her chin down snout and over his eyebrows, her heart fluttering when she heard his breath catch. Then she let go of him, looking into his eyes.  
  
He didn’t say anything, just leaned down to rub his muzzle over her ears and the top of her head. The whole experience left her dizzy and she would have fallen over if he wasn’t holding her. She rested her forehead on his chest, trying to register what had just happened and praying it wouldn’t ruin everything.  
  
“Judy.” His snout was by her ear, his paws rubbing her arms. “We need to talk.”  
  
“I know,” she nodded, looking up at him once more. “But not right now.”  
  
He frowned and opened his mouth to protest but she put her finger on his mouth. “I’m not trying to avoid this, I promise. But right now, we need to focus on the case at hand We still need to find Ella’s murderer and bring him to justice.”  
  
The fox still looked displeased but he nodded, agreeing with her. “Alright. So what do we know?”  
  
She pulled away from him and went over to her bag, pulling out some files and flipping through them, sitting down on the couch. Nick went over and sat next to her, and she didn’t protest when he wrapped an arm around her. “The ocelot Wayne was going to beat up, Misty, told one of the officers that she had known Ella. So if we can talk to her tomorrow, maybe we can get her to roll on the pimps. Maybe she knows something.”  
  
Nick nodded, reaching over to grab another file. “And what about the firm? Anything on them?”  
  
“A few of their lawyers are dirty, but nothing definitive on them.” She flipped through the file he held. “Trevor was the one who told me about it, he looked really spooked about something.”  
  
“Maybe someone was trying to intimidate him into silence.”  
  
“That’s what I was thinking. Plus, a firm putting a new guy on a pro bono case for some random prostitute? Something has to be going on.”  
  
“So tomorrow we’ll talk to Misty and Trevor, see if we can find out anything.” Nick nodded at her, grabbing for his cell. “I’ll call the chief, tell him the plan. See if he can get anyone to watch over them for the night.”  
  
“Have him call the team, so they know what’s going on.” Judy gathered up the files, putting them back and making them nice and neat before sliding off the couch. “While you do that, how about I order us some take-out?”  
  
“Yes, please, I’m starving.” Nick grabbed her paw before she could get to her phone. “And we are going to talk, after the case.” He looked worried…maybe even nervous?  
  
She nodded, her heart pounding in her chest as she gave him her first genuine smile in a while. “After the case. I promise.” She kissed his paw and he let go, letting her grab her phone while he went for his.

* * *

They both went into work the next morning feeling much better, eyes fresh and minds cleared from any doubts they had. What had happened the night before was still tangible in their minds, but they would have to worry about that after everything was over.  
  
“Hey, Clawhauser, is Trevor Long here yet?” Judy asked the cheetah at the front desk.  
  
He shook his head, giving her an apologetic smile. “Not yet, but he called and said he was one his way.”  
  
“Hopps!” She turned her head to see McHorn jogging towards her, a panicked look on his face. “We just got a call from the prison. Big Toni was shanked, he’s in critical condition.”  
  
Her eyes went side and her ears fell. “How did that happen? He was supposed to be under watch!”  
  
“The other prisoners got him way from the other guards and cornered him.”  
  
“Judy!” Francine trumpeted from the balcony. “Another call came in! Misty, the ocelot girl, was found shot outside the safe house!”  
  
Nick came sprinting from down the hallway, his eyes wide and panicked. “Trevor Long is dead! He was hit head on by a taxi drive, both dead on site.” He looked at her and McHorn. “Someone is cleaning house.”  
  
“Oh my god.” Judy grabbed for her phone, her paws trembling. “Okay, um, get all units out, stat. McHorn, grab Wolfmeyer and head to the prison. Nick, we need to go check on your mom and Junior, now.” She dialed Marian’s cell and hurried outside, Nick right on her heels. She almost fainted with relief when she picked up. “Hi, Marian, listen, whatever you do, don’t answer the door for anyone, okay? Me and Nick are coming to pick you and Junior up.”  
  
“Oh, we’re not home, dear,” Marian said.  
  
Her heart stopped. “What do you mean, where are you?”  
  
“We’re at the park, Junior has been cooped up all day and I thought some fresh air would be good for him—”  
  
Suddenly Judy heard shots from the phone and Marian screamed. “Marian? Marian!” The line went dead and she felt as though everything around her was in slow motion for a few moments. Only Nick’s grip on her kept her from falling over. She grabbed for her radio and sprinted towards the cruiser. “Attention, all units, shots fired as Zootopia Central Park, I repeat, shots fired at Zootopia Central Park!”  
  
Nick climbed into the driver’s side and she hopped into the passenger’s seat. They flipped the siren on before Nick raced towards the park, Judy doing her best to keep from completely breaking down.  
  
_Please, please let them be safe!_  
  
Ella’s words rang, unbidden, in her mind.  
_  
“He’s my whole world…I’d do anything for him…”_  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> weekly once a week updates will resume next week. i haven't decided if i'm going to write the next chapter in like a couple of days or if i'm gonna wait until my next day off next week. leave a comment to let me know what you think, contact me on tumblr if you have any questions, all that good job. i'll see y'all later!


	7. we'll bleed and fight for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The killer is finally found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and with this chapter this arc ends, and another begins in the next chapter. before anything, i just wanted to tell you how thankful i am to each and every one of you for reading this story, for commenting and leaving kudos. it all means the world to me and at times i get so overwhelmed by the love you guys have for this story that i get pretty emotional. because none of this would have been possible without you guys. this little story of mine makes me so happy, but knowing that you guys love it makes me even happier. this chapter isn't the best, but i did my best to wrap everything up.

Sirens were blaring as the car raced down the streets of the city as fast as they could, with only prayers and hopes that no one was hurt, that everyone was alright. Judy was doing her best to keep from sobbing, her heart pounding so hard in her chest that she was sure it was going to break free and start running down the street alongside the car. She couldn’t even look at Nick right now, she knew that if she did she would end up crying because she could smell how scared he was.  
  
They reached the park and she jumped out of the car before he even had a chance to stop, sprinting down the side walk towards the playground. Her violet eyes scanned the crowd, trying to catch a glimpse of Marian or Junior among the parents huddled together and the children crying. She couldn’t see them and fear reared its ugly head, making her head spin and her paws go numb.  
  
“Marian! Junior!” She ran up to one of the officers standing by a group of mammals, showing her badge. “Judy Hopps, Precinct One, my son was in the park.”  
  
“You might want to check with EMS,” the officer told her, pointing at the ambulance parked a bit away.  
  
The bunny nodded and turned to go towards it when she saw a stroller knocked over by one of the slides. Her heart sank. She knew that stroller…it was the one Marian had bought for her…  
  
_Oh god…!  
  
_ “Marian! Junior!” They had to be okay, they just had to be, god she would never forgive herself if something had happened to them—  
  
“Judy!”  
  
She heard a familiar voice and nearly wept when she saw Nick’s mother hurrying towards her. “Marian!” She gripped the vixen’s arms in her paws, staring at her with wide eyes. “Where is he?? Is he okay??”  
  
“He’s fine, he’s fine,” Marian assured her, leading the bunny over to the EMS vehicle. “No one was hurt, they think he was just trying to scare everyone.”  
  
Judy let a few tears slip when she saw one of the EMS Labradors holding her foster son. She reached up and he was placed in arms. The kit clung to her, whimpering as he shook in her embrace. Judy rubbed her chin all over his face, needing to smell herself on him, to know that he was here, he was safe, with her.  
  
“Ma!” She heard Nick call out and looked up in time to see her partner run up and wrap his arms tightly around his mother. “Are you okay??”  
  
“I’m fine, Nicky, I’m fine,” Marian told her son, wrapping her arms around him as well and nuzzling his face. She pulled back and gently pushed him towards the bunny and fox kit. “And he's fine, too.”  
  
Nick wrapped his arms around Judy and Junior, rubbing his scent on Junior over hers. Judy could feel his heart beating in his chest, could smell the relief coming off of him in waves. It matched her own and she felt herself instinctively relaxing into his hold, leaning up to press her cheek to his.  
  
He met her halfway and their foreheads ended up pressed together, both of them holding onto their son as the kit finally stopped whimpering, instead curling into the both of them. Nick reached out to Marian who went over to them and wrapped her arms around all of them, nearly making Judy cry. She was just so relieved that they were alive, that they were safe.   
  
She opened her eyes and glared up at the sky.   
  
_Now it’s personal.  
_

* * *

“Big Toni, shanked fifteen times in his cell.” Nick pinned a picture of the tiger to the board in the bull pen. “Misty Dot, killed outside the safe house.” A picture of the ocelot was pinned next. “And Trevor Long, hit by a taxi driver, both dead on site.” He pinned a picture of the giraffe up, along with the hippo driver who had been killed as well. “And the hippo? One of the lawyers at the firm we’ve been investigating. Looks like he stole the vehicle with the intent to kill Long.”  
  
“And there was a shooting at the park, meant to intimidate us.” Judy stood beside her partner, her eyes hardened as she stared at her team. She noticed one missing and sighed. “McHorn, where’s Wolfmeyer?”  
  
“He called in sick, said he’d come down with the flu,” the rhino told her.  
  
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. The wolf was known for trying to skip out on work whenever he could. “Whatever. What do we have, people?”  
  
“Who else knew where all of these mammals were?” Bogo asked them from behind his podium.   
  
“Just us and the team,” Nick told the buffalo. “And you, sir.”  
  
“Did any of you tell anyone about this case?”  
  
The team all shook their heads, giving confirmation that they had not.  
  
Bogo slammed his hoof down on the podium, startling all of them. “Three deaths in three weeks! And one in critical condition! I want whoever is behind this caught and put away, now!” He looked over at Nick and Judy. “Wilde, Hopps, I want you to dig up whatever you can about this firm and the hippo who killed the lawyer. Everyone has their secrets and I want his known. Francine, get down to the ME’s office and see if he’s found anything useful. McHorn, you head over to the prison to check on Toni, see if he’s ready to cough up his boss’s name. The mayor is on my ass about this case, people, we cannot have another tragedy on our hands!”  
  
“Yes, sir!” they all chorused and rushed off to do their jobs.

* * *

“The hippo is John Waters, no priors, no complaints, but listen to this.” Nick waited until Judy was looking at him to continue. “He’d defended both Toni and Aiza’s girls before when they were brought in by police. They never served any jail time.”  
  
“So he knew them, which means he had to have known their boss,” Judy nodded, brushing her ears down. “So what, did one of them call him and tell him to take Trevor Long out?”  
  
“There was only one incoming call to his cell before he died, about two hours before the crash. Unknown number, probably a burner phone.”  
  
“So we have nothing.” She groaned loudly, leaning back in her chair with a huff. “Could this case be any worse?? How are we supposed to catch this guy if he leaves us with nothing to look for??”  
  
“Whoever he is, he knows what he’s doing.” Nick reached over to take her paw, giving it a squeeze. “But everyone slips up, Carrots. We just have to wait for him to.”  
  
Her phone rang and she sprang for it, answering it quickly. “Hopps, what do you have?”  
  
Francine spoke from the other end of the line. “I talked to the ME. Our killer finally got sloppy. There was fur under Misty’s claws, some with roots at the end. We have his DNA.”  
  
The bunny sighed with relief, her chest feeling lighter already. “Have they been able to get a match yet?”  
  
“Not yet, they’ve been having trouble with the machine all day. But the fur is canine, probably wolf.”  
  
So now they knew the species of their killer. It was better than nothing. “Thank you, Francine. Call me as soon as that DNA match comes through.”  
  
“You got it.”   
  
The bunny hung up and looked at her partner, her eyes shining. “Wolf. He’s a wolf.” She gripped Nick’s paw. “Our killer is a wolf.”  
  
“I told you he would get sloppy.” The fox gave her a smile.  
  
The phone rang again. It was McHorn this time. “Toni is finally talking. He said he’s never actually dealt with the boss before, but he’s dealt with his bottom.”  
  
“His bottom?” Judy looked over at Nick.  
  
“A bottom is the one the pimps use to arrange johns for the girls, drop them off at locations and pick them up, basically just the ones who takes care of the girls,” Nick explained to her before looking at the phone. “Did he give a name?”  
  
“Yeah. He said her name is Serena Woolsen.”  
  
“A sheep?”  
  
“No, a poodle. He gave us a location, too, said they have parties there frequently.”  
  
“Sounds like another stake-out is in order.” Judy took in a breath. “Great work, McHorn. Meet us back at the station, we’ll go tell the chief.” She hung up and looked over at her partner again. The look on his face matched hers.   
  
Finally, they were getting somewhere.

* * *

Toni’s lead was good.  
  
They caught Serena in the act of selling the girls out at a party. There were five girls there, all different species, along with ten johns they arrested for statutory. All of the girls were under seventeen. It made Judy sick.  
  
Serena was docile for the most part, going with them without complain and keeping her head down. She was a typical female poodle, fur shaved off except for on her head and ears, chest, paws, and tail. The weathered look on her face, the dead look in her eyes, Judy could tell that she had been doing this for quite some time. And she wasn’t talking to them, refusing to say a word, instead focusing her gaze over the shoulder of anyone who even tried to talk to her.   
  
“She’s been in the game for a while, she knows that as long as she’s the bottom someone will look out for her,” Nick observed, looking through the glass of the interrogation room at the poodle. “As long as she keeps her mouth shut, she won’t get hurt, that’s what she’s been conditioned to believe.”  
  
“So how do we get her to talk to us?” Judy asked, her frustration showing clearly in her tone.  
  
The fox looked down at her. “We find out everything we can about her, any little bit of personal information can help us try to get through to her.” He looked over to see one of the girls being lead through the station. “Our best bet is to start with the girls, see what they say about her.”  
  
“Let’s go.” She nodded at him.  
  
The girls were scared, and three of them refused to talk. But the other two, both young lionesses, were gently goaded into talking after they learned that Judy was taking care of Ella’s son.  
  
“Serena has a son, too,” one of the girls told the bunny. “He’d be seven now, I think? The boss took him away, told her that if she wanted him to be safe then she’d have to do everything they told her or they would kill him.”  
  
“She hasn’t seen him in three years,” the other girl told them. “I know she misses him very much, they send her pictures of him on his birthday and on Christmas.”  
  
“That’s it, that’s our opening,” Judy told Bogo as the girls were situated in protective custody. “Serena has completely given up on herself, but she hasn’t given up on her child.”  
  
“Do we have any idea where they could be keeping him?” the buffalo asked her.  
  
“No…but I bet one of the pimps knows,” Nick suggested, his ears perking up. “I’ll go to the prison, see if Toni is willing to talk more. He seems to be pretty open, now that he knows they don’t give a shit about if he lives or dies.”  
  
“You go do that.” Bogo nodded at him then turned to Judy. “Hopps, head down to the ME’s office, see if they got anything on that fur sample yet.”  
  
“Yes, sir.” The bunny nodded.  
  
“Good work, you two. Keep it up.” The buffalo walked away, his back straighter than it had been since the case had started.  
  
The fox and the bunny turned to each other. “Good luck,” they said simultaneously, making each other grin. Then they parted ways.

* * *

“We got a match in the national data base,” the mole ME told the bunny, typing away on a computer.   
  
“The national one? How long is this guy’s criminal record?” Judy asked out loud, though she knew that the mole wouldn’t know the answer. She shook her head and forced herself to focus. “Do we have a name?”  
  
“Yeah.” The mole typed away before bringing up a mugshot that made her blood turn to ice. “Name’s Angel Howlerson, wanted for rape, murder, and prostitution.” He looked over at her and stopped when he saw the look on her face. “Officer Hopps?”  
  
“Fuck,” she whispered before slamming her paws on the table, once, twice. “Fuck, damn it! Damn it!” She took off out of the room, ignoring the ME’s calls after her. Her heart was pounding in her chest, rage at both herself and the culprit rising in her head. How could she have been so stupid?? He had been right there, the whole time, and she hadn’t seen it!  
  
She ran into Nick on her way to Bogo’s office, the fox’s expression mirroring hers. They stared at each other before snarling the same name.  
  
“Wolfmeyer!”

* * *

“Wolfmeyer is behind all of this??”  
  
Judy could hear the disbelief in McHorn’s voice as she informed everyone of what they had learned. She felt bad for the rhino, Wolfmeyer was his partner, he had trusted him. They had all trusted him.  
  
“It all makes sense,” Nick told their fellow officers, all of them gathered in the bull pen. “Ella would have recognized him when she came in, so to keep his cover from being blown he ordered her to be killed. Then he had Big Toni shanked to keep him quiet, along with Misty who would have seen him too.”  
  
“And what about the lawyer? Trevor Long?”  
  
“Collateral damage, he got into the wrong case.”   
  
“What about the bottom, Serena?”  
  
“I’m working on her,” Judy told them. “But right now, if any of you hear from him, you have to tell us right away. We can’t let him get away.”  
  
Everyone agreed and went back to their desks, spirits at an all time low. To find out that one of their fellow officers was actually a known criminal…it was hard to take in.  
  
Judy marched towards the interrogation room where Serena was. She was the bottom, so that meant she had to know where he was. If she could get her to talk, they could close this case, today. But she had to get her to trust her.  
  
Judy entered the room, taking in the poodle. Serena was curled up in her chair, legs drawn to her chest, her chin resting on her arms. She didn’t even blink as the bunny made her way over, hopping up on a chair to face her. “Serena. I’m officer Judy Hopps. I need to ask you about your boss.”  
  
“I don’t have to talk to you until my lawyer gets here,” the other female growled, curling more into herself.  
  
“I know you’re scared, but we aren’t going to let anyone hurt you,” Judy told her, leaning across the table towards her. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but I need you to trust me. Please.”  
  
There was a knock and Nick entered the room, carrying a file with him. “Ladies, I hope you don’t mind if I join you.” He pulled up a chair beside Judy and sat down, setting the file on the table. “Nick Wilde. Serena, how much do you know about where they’re keeping your son?”  
  
The poodle blinked and lifted her head, the first reaction they’d been able to get out of her. “How do you know about Michael?”  
  
“The other girls told us about him.” Nick opened the file and Judy’s eyes went wide when she saw what it contained. “He’d be about, what, seven now? And you saw him three years ago?” He turned the file around and pushed it towards the poodle. “Look familiar?”  
  
Serena stared down before picking up the picture there. It was of a little black poodle puppy, kicking a soccer ball. She ran a finger over his face in the picture. “Michael…” She looked up at them. “How did you get this picture?”  
  
“The ZBI found where Angel keeps the babies, they have a task force on the ground right now ready to go in and get them.” He looked over at Judy. “I have a friend who works for them, turns out they’ve been following this guy longer than any of us knew. As soon as they found out we were looking for him they offered to help.”  
  
She was sure there was a story behind that, but they didn’t have time. She looked at the other female, reaching out to her. “Serena, I know you love your son, and I know you want to see him again.”  
  
“If I talk to you, they’ll kill him,” the poodle said tearfully, her paws starting to shake. “He’s ruthless, he’ll kill anyone.”  
  
“I know, I know.” The bunny gave her an understanding smile. “They took a shot at my son yesterday.”  
  
“Ella’s son,” Serena said, and Judy didn’t bother to correct her. It wasn’t important. “Everyone knows you have him. You made yourself a target. They’ll come after you, and after Nicky.”  
  
“So you knew Ella.” She leaned further across the table. “Serena, please. Help us. We can get your son back, we can get you away from this life. We can protect you.”  
  
“Like you protected Ella?” The poodle was sniffling now and Judy could see the fear in her eyes. “I won’t end up like her, I can’t. I won’t let my Michael grow up without me.”  
  
“If you help us, you won’t have to.” The fox beside her leaned forward as well. “Serena, these people you work with, Angel, they don’t give a shit if you see your son again. We do. We can help you. But this life you’ve led, it has to end. The only one who can do all of this is you.”  
  
Serena looked at them, then back down at the picture of her son. Then her shoulders went limp. “Alright. Where do I start?”  
  
“Did Angel give the order to kill Ella?” Judy asked her.  
  
The poodle nodded. “Yes. He said that anyone could do whatever they wanted to her. She saw his face and he wanted her dead to keep his cover from being blown.” She sunk into her seat again. “Then he ordered Toni killed, but that didn’t work out. He made me watch when he killed Misty. Then he called up the Manolin frim and ordered the lawyer to be killed.” She looked up at them, completely defeated. “There. That’s what you want, right? Can I go?”  
  
“Almost.” Judy took out a pen and paper and passed them to Serena. “Where is he?”

* * *

Alan Wolfmeyer, better known as Angel Howlerson, was outside his house on the outskirts of Zootopia, packing things into a van when Judy saw him. She wanted nothing more than to run up to him, slug him in the face then slap a pair of handcuffs on him right then and there, but she knew it would be easier if he didn’t know why she was here just yet.  
  
The grey wolf’s nose twitched and he turned his head and saw her, a bright smile splitting his muzzle. “Hopps! Are you here to see me off?”  
  
“You’re leaving?” she asked, clasping her paws behind her as she tried to keep up the innocent act. It was so hard to not snarl at this guy, the one who was behind the death of her son’s birth mother.  
  
He nodded, humming. “My mother is sick, I have to go take care of her. It’ll be nice to get out of the city, though already having to transfer after six months won’t get me much credit anywhere.”  
  
“McHorn told me that you had the flu, are you sure you’re in a good spot to take care of her?” She reached slowly for her gun that she had hidden behind her back, gripping the handle.  
  
“Turns out I’d just had some bad fish.” The wolf gave her a sheepish smile. “Don’t ever go to Salome’s in Tundra Town, they say the fish is fresh but clearly they’re lying. I should have been able to smell it.” The smile stayed on his face as his eyes suddenly turned cold. “Just like I can smell you behind me, Wilde.”  
  
The fox emerged from his hiding place, keeping his gun pointed at Angel. “You can’t blame a guy for trying to be sneaky, eh, Alan? Or should I call you Angel?”  
  
The wolf sighed and reached up to smooth the fur on his head. “I guess I couldn’t keep it from you guys forever. You have to admit, I gave you a run for your money, though.”  
  
Judy grabbed her gun, pointing it at the wolf as she slowly stepped closer to him. “You killed Ella.”  
  
He nodded, his expression smug. “I did. She was going to tell you who I was, I knew she recognized as soon as she saw me in the lobby of that hotel. I confirmed it when I drove her to the safe house. I had a few of my buddies meet me there, and we gave her the time of her life before cutting her down.”  
  
The bunny couldn’t help the growl that came from deep in her chest. “You’re disgusting!”  
  
“Hey, I seem to recall hearing you yelling about her in the station.” He looked at her pointedly. “I even contemplated setting it up to look like you were the one who killed her. But I knew Wilde would alibi you, so I didn’t bother.”  
  
“It’s over, Howlerson,” Nick snarled at the wolf as McHorn and Francine emerged from their hiding places. “There’s nowhere for you to run now.”  
  
“Oh, isn’t there?” The wolf looked at Judy, who was almost standing in front of him now. “I really don’t understand why you’re so upset about all of this. You got her baby, right? Little Nicky, I think his name is? I’m the reason you get to keep your son, Hopps. You should be grateful to me.”  
  
“I didn’t want her dead!” Judy protested, blinking rapidly to try to keep her tears at bay.  
  
“You say that now, but we both know that’s a lie,” he hissed, stepping towards her and making everyone keep their guns pointed at him. “You wanted her to disappear. I made her disappear. From one parent to another, you don’t want to do this.” His eyes narrowed. “You want to let me go.”  
  
Judy glared at him. “Angel Howlerson, you’re under arrest for the murders of Misty Dot and Ella Sanchez.”  
  
Suddenly a shot fired from the distance, making them all duck and point their guns that way. Angel used the distraction to snatch Judy’s gun away from her and shoved her down to the ground, pointing the gun in her face. He sneered at her as he prepared to pull the trigger. “Bye bye, bunny.”  
  
Her stared at him, frozen, eyes wide and ears laid back with fear. _No…!_  
  
“NO!”  
  
Then suddenly a shot was fired and Howlerson’s blood was all over her as the wolf fell to the ground. She stared at him before looking up to see Nick staring at her, his gun pointed at where the wolf had been standing, his green eyes wide with absolute terror. She blinked, once, twice.  
  
“You shot him…”  
  
Nick ran over to her, gathering her up in his arms as McHorn ran to find the sniper and Francine called it in. The fox was trembling as he held her, his nose buried between her ears. She protested weakly. “I’m bloody—”  
  
“I don’t care.” He didn’t let go of her, and she really didn’t mind.  
  
It was over. They got him.   
  
“It’s over,” she muttered, over and over as she clung to the fox, her heart refusing to slow down in her rib cage.  
  
“It’s over.”

* * *

“Hey, sweetie,” Judy cooed to her son as she picked him up, sitting down on the couch and placing him in her lap. The fox kit yawned and curled up against her, resting his head on her shoulder. The bunny noticed that he had gotten bigger, something she must have missed while she was working on the case. The fact made her sad, but she promised herself that she wouldn’t miss any more of his life.  
  
“I have good new buddy,” she murmured to him, gently stroking the soft fur on his ears. “We got the guy who hurt your mommy. And he is never, ever going to hurt anyone else.” She pressed a kiss to his nose before rubbing her chin along his snout. “It’s over. And you can stay with us forever.” She looked down at him, her eyes soft and warm. “I love you, Nicholas Junior. I love you so very, very much.”  
  
Junior stared up at her with sleepy green eyes, a smile splitting his lips. “Wuv ‘oo, mama.”  
  
The bunny cooed and snuggled him to her chest again, rocking him back and forth as she hummed softly to him.  
  
Later that night, after she had put the kit to bed, Judy went to Nick’s room, knocking on the door frame as she looked at him, sitting at his desk on his phone. “Hey.”  
  
He looked up and gave her a smile. “Hey. Everything okay?”  
  
She nodded, walking over and sitting down on his bed. She was already in her pajamas, her fur still a bit damp from her shower. She bit her lip and looked at him, violet eyes concerned. “Are you okay?”  
  
The fox sighed and ran a paw over his ears before getting up to join her on the bed. He sat beside her, his paws resting on his knees. “Honestly…I don’t know.”  
  
She reached over to place paw on his. “It was a good shoot, Nick. He would have killed me.”  
  
He looked at her and she saw how tired her looked. “I know that. You know that. The entire department knows that. It’s just…” He sighed as he turned his paw over to thread their fingers together. “Seeing him standing there, someone I called a friend, and watching him point a gun at you…” He shuddered, lifting her paw to clutch it to his chest. “That really fucked me up, Judy.”  
  
“Nick…” She leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head down to press his ear to her chest so he could hear her heart. “I’m here. I’m safe. You saved me. It’s over, everything is okay.”   
  
Nick’s paws came up to hold her hips, pressing himself into her as he let her comfort him. His tail thumped softly on the bed, a soft purr-like growl escaping him as he closed his eyes.  
  
Judy smiled and leaned over so that they were laying on the bed, curling into her fox. Nick straightened up so he could wrap his arms around her, bringing her to his chest as he wrapped his tail around her. “Will you stay here for the night?” he whispered, his muzzle right by her ear.  
  
She shivered and nodded, her paws reaching up to rub the base of his ears. “Yeah.”  
  
“We have the next two weeks off, for recovery time, is what the chief said,” he mused, rolling over so he could turn his light off before wrapping himself around her again.  
  
“Whatever shall we do with ourselves?” she teased, nestling against him, rubbing her cheek against his soft fur.  
  
“Sleep,” he nodded against her head. “You really need to sleep, I don’t think you slept at all during the case.”  
  
“I didn’t sleep much, that’s for sure,” she agreed with him, a yawn escaping her to prove his point.  
  
“And.” One of his paws cupping her chin as he tilted her head up so she was looking into his eyes. “We still need to talk.”  
  
She nodded, tracing patterns into the fur of his chest with her short claws. “Yes, yes we do.”  
  
He nodded before pulling his sheets over them, snuggling her again. “Tomorrow.”  
  
“Tomorrow,” she agreed letting her eyes flutter shut as exhaustion took over her body.  
  
And, for the first time in weeks, they both slept soundly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, thank you so much for your support. comment or message me on tumblr if you'd like. also, who else is super duper pumped for the audio drama of Boys Like You?? come talk to me about it pls it's all i can think about.


	8. if you love me (dilly dilly) i will love you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nick and Judy finally get their heads out of their butts. Marian's words, not mine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is late and I'm sorry, I had bad wifi and then I had to give it to my beta and ugh yeah sorry guys. I hope it was worth the wait. I just want to say again how grateful I am for all the support i've gotten on this story, i never thought it would get more than like 10 comments. and now some bad news. I've decided to end this at 12 chapters, because at that point there really isn't much more I could do with it. but that will not be the end of Beautiful Boy! I want you guys to tell me if there are any parts of the story you would like to see from Nick's POV, and if I get enough suggestions i might write some scenes for it. plus i'll probably still write one-shots from this verse because i love it so much.

Nick was right. She needed the sleep.  
  
Judy wasn’t sure how long she slept, the feeling of the fox’s warm body lying next to her drawing her into the most peaceful slumber she’d had in what felt like years, especially after barely sleeping for nearly a month. Her dreams were wonderfully blissful, full of her family and Nick and Junior. The nightmares she’d been having were kept at bay, and for that she was so thankful.  
  
She woke up briefly when Nick got out of bed, but after he’d kissed her cheek and assured her he wasn’t going far she’d fallen right back to sleep. Another time she woke up because she thought she heard the door open but it wasn’t enough to keep her awake for very long. It seemed her body was determined to make her sleep as much as possible, which was fine with her. She didn’t have to work, she would take this opportunity to rest.  
  
She was finally pulled fully awake at the feeling of a snout being rubbed against her face. She mumbled incoherently and tried to roll away, but a pair of paws wrapped around her and held her still. “C’mon, Carrots, you’ve been sleeping all day,” Nick’s voice crooned in her ear, his nose cold against her soft fur. “You need to eat something.”  
  
“Nooooooo,” she moaned softly, wrapping her arms around a pillow and pulling it against her face. “Wanna sleeeeeeeep.”  
  
“You’ve been sleeping for like twelve hours,” the fox laughed, one of his paws rubbing her shoulder.  
  
She moved the pillow and blinked up at him, trying to clear all the sleep from her vision. “Oh god, have I really?” She groaned and stretched out before going limp on the bed. “Why did you let me sleep for so long?”  
  
“You really did need the sleep, fluff.” He grinned at her as his paw moved to gently stroke her ears, making her shiver. “But I think you’ve slept long enough, it’s time to get up and get some food.”  
  
“And you’re bored.” She gave him a pointed look.  
  
“Madame, you wound me.” He clutched at his chest with mock hurt, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Here I am, trying to look out for your well-being, and you accuse me of being selfish. For shame!”  
  
“Har har, drama king.” She rolled her eyes and sat up, stretching again and yawning as she rubbed her eyes with her paws. “What time is it?”  
  
“It’s like 3.”  
  
“In the afternoon?? Crackers, I have slept forever.” She pushed the covers down and let her legs hang over the side of the bed.  
  
“I told you that you needed sleep.” Nick stood up and offered her his paw. She took it and he led her to the kitchen, where he already had a plate of noodles set out for her. She thanked him as she dug in heartily, just now realizing how hungry she was.  
  
“So where’s Junior?”  
  
“Ma took him for the afternoon, thought he could use some fresh air without someone trying to shoot at them.”  
  
“Don’t joke about that.”  
  
When she was done eating, they went about their usual routine of her washing dishes and him dying and putting them away. They poked fun at each other, all smiles and light-hearted laughter, the kind of normalcy they needed after the case they’d had. At one point Judy splashed him with water, making Nick yelp before he glared at her. “Oh yeah? Is that how it’s going to be?” He grabbed a towel and twisted it up and she squealed before grabbing the facet hose and pointing it at him.  
  
“Don’t even think about it, fox, I will not hold back!”  
  
“You think that scares me?”  
  
“It should!”  
  
He ignored her warnings and managed to slap her tail with the towel. She yelled and squeezed the hose, soaking him. Nick sputtered and wiped at his face while she laughed, turning off the water and trying to keep from doubling over. He growled at her then suddenly snatched her up, tickling her sides until she was screaming with laughter.  
  
“Say uncle!”  
  
“Nooo!”  
  
“Say I’m the sexiest fox in the world!”  
  
“Nick!” She tried to slap away his paws, still giggling. “You are the worst, sir!”  
  
He grinned down at her, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist now. “You know you love me.”  
  
Her breath caught in her throat as she stared up at him with wide violet eyes, remembering what had happened between them the last time he’d said that. He seemed to remember too, as the smile on his muzzle slowly slipped away, and his expression became more serious. His paws settled on her hips and she watched his chest expand as he took in a deep breath. “Judy—”  
  
“I know.” She stepped away from him, just outside of his reach. She wrung her paws in front of herself, suddenly nervous. She glanced up him. “We…we still need to…talk.”  
  
He nodded, rubbing the back of his head with a paw. “Yeah. We do.”  
  
She was scared of this, had been ever talking with her mother about her feelings for him. But, she realized as he extended a paw to her, she would feel a lot better once it was all laid out there and they both figured out what this was. She placed her paw in his, noting not for the first time just how much bigger his were than hers. She swallowed and allowed him to lead her to the living room, where both of them took a seat on the couch.  
  
There was silence between them for a moment before they both tried to speak.  
  
“Nick, I—”  
  
“Judy, you’re—”  
  
They both stopped and chuckled nervously. She gestured at him. “Sorry, you go first.”  
  
“Okay.” The fox breathed in and let it out in an almost whistle before turning his head to look at her. “Carrots—Judy. You—first off, I want you to know that you’re the most important mammal in my life.”  
  
She nodded, her paws clasped in her lap as she waited for him to continue.  
  
“And—and the last few months—well, except for this past one because wow that was shit—but these past few months, being with you and Junior and my ma every day, getting to be a family with you…it’s the happiest I’ve been in years.” He gave her a smile, a real genuine one that made her heart speed up. “And I won’t lie to you, fluff, I’ve been terrified of this conversation because…because I don’t want to lose this.” He glanced down at his paws, which were clenched in his lap. “I don’t want to lose you.”  
  
Her heart skipped a beat. Her mother had been right, he had been scared of the same thing as her, she had just been too blind to see it. She reached over to place her paw on one of his. “Nick—”  
  
“And I don’t want you to feel obligated in any way towards me,” he went on quickly, holding his free paw up. “I accepted a long time ago that this,” he pointed to the air between them, “is one-sided and I’m fine with that, honest. Being around you, being able to be so close to you, it’s more than I ever could have hoped for.”  
  
She could feel tears building in her eyes and she had to blink rapidly to hold them at bay. He noticed and a panicked look came over his face but she pressed her fingers to his mouth before he could say anything. Judy gave him a weak smile. “I talked to my mom, back when I went home, about all of this. I told her that I was terrified of saying anything because I didn’t want to lose you…and she said that maybe you were scared, too.” She let out a laugh, pulling her paws down to let them rest on his lap. “I feel so stupid…I should have known that she was right. She’s always right.”  
  
“Moms usually are,” he agreed, an eager smile spreading his lips. He raised a paw to cup her cheek, and she eagerly leaned into his touch, pressing her cheek against the warmth of his paw pads. He stroked her cheek softly with his thumb. “When?”  
  
She blinked, her ears twitching towards him. “When what?”  
  
“When did you know you had…feelings? For me.” He looked awkward talking about all of this and she could see the insides of his ears turning red. It was all so endearing.  
  
She cupped her paw over his, gently rubbing her chin against his palm and hearing his breath catch. “I think maybe…after the Gazelle concert I started to have feelings. I didn’t know it, I thought I was just so happy to have you at my side. But after we got custody of Junior, seeing the way you acted with him…something just clicked in my head. It all felt so…right.” She stared up at his green eyes. “And you? When did you know?”  
  
He sighed as his paw ran down her neck to wrap around her shoulders, pulling her towards him. “I knew about three days after the press conference.” Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at him, watching a smile spread on his muzzle. “I went to Finn and pouted in his van for those days, not understanding why I was so attached to this little bunny after only knowing her for two days and trying to figure out why she had the ability to get to me like that. Once I figured it out it made a lot of sense. I was too prideful to go seek you out, though, so I waited and hoped that you would come to me. ‘Course, it took you three months to actually do it, but I’m willing to let that slide.” He chuckled when she rolled her eyes.  
  
Nick took her paws in his, his expression becoming serious as he looked her in the eye. “I need you to know that I don’t take any of this lightly, Judy. Foxes…when we choose someone, that’s it for us. There is no one else. We mate for life, at least red foxes do.” He gulped, suddenly nervous. “But I don’t want you to feel pressured at all! Aha why did I just tell you that, oh god.” He covered his face with one arm, chuckling awkwardly. “Sorry.”  
  
“No, it’s fine, really.” She reached up to tug his arm away from his face, smiling at him. “I’m glad you’re being honest with me. If we’re going to make this work, we have to be completely honest with each other.” She gave his paws a squeeze before leaning up towards him with a grin of her own. “Besides, I understand. Bunnies mate for life, too, ya know.”  
  
“Is that right?” He wrapped his arms around her, drawing her to his chest.  
  
She nodded, still smiling at him. “Yeah we do.” She tilted her head at him. “So…what now?”  
  
“Well, we’ve already marked each other,” he commented, grinning when he noticed how her ears turned pink. “Now don’t get embarrassed, Carrots, you’re the one who started it.”  
  
“Okay but that first time was an accident!”  
  
“You still did it, and I reciprocated.” He chuckled and booped her nose, delighting when it twitched. “But the point is we’ve already done that. So I’m pretty sure we can just declare ourselves mates.”  
  
Mates. The word sounded so final and she loved it. She buried her face in the fur of his neck, rubbing her chin there to leave her scent on him and grinning when she felt him rubbing his muzzle along the top of his head. “I love you, Nick,” she breathed, unable to keep the words to herself any longer.  
  
She felt him freeze against her, his muscles tensing so suddenly that she became worried. Should she have not said that? Was it too soon to use that word? But he had just said that they were mates, so what was the problem? She pulled away to look at him, her nose twitching once again and her eyes full of concern. “Nick? Is…is everything okay?”  
  
The fox nodded quickly, snapping out of it and nuzzling his snout against her cheek. “It’s fine, just…no one other than my mom has said that to me in ten years. I guess I’m just a little shell shocked.”  
  
“I love you,” she repeated, grinning as he clutched her tighter and ran his muzzle along her ears. “I love you, Nick. I love you so much.” She leaned back to look at him, looking at him expectantly.  
  
To her surprise he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. “You know I feel the same way, fluff.”  
  
“I want to hear you say it.” Surely that wasn’t asking too much, right?  
  
He gaped at her for a moment before closing his jaw, then opening it again, then closing it. She watched as a torrent of emotions passed over his eyes, his eyebrows furrowing as he seemed to struggle with himself. “Carrots—Judy—” He huffed and closed his eyes, pinching his snout before looking at her once more. “You—you mean the world to me, I adore you, I—” He growled and got up from the couch, starting to pace back and forth in the living room.  
  
She grew more concerned, hopping down and just standing there, not sure what to do. “Nick—”  
  
He looked at her and his shoulders sagged. “Judy—fuck me, ugh.” He growled as his paws gripped at his ears. “Whyyyyy can’t I just say it, oh my god.” He huffed and clapped his paws together, looking at her. “Carrots. Hopps. Judy.”  
  
She smiled and made her way over to him. “That’s my name, yes.”  
  
He stuck his tongue out at her before sighing and taking her paws in his. “Sorry, just—I haven’t had to say this in over ten years, I’m not used to this kind of thing.”  
  
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never done this at all,” she told him, giving him a reassuring smile.  
  
Nick blinked at her, his mouth gaping once again. “Carrots—have you never had a boyfriend before??”  
  
“W-well, no,” she sputtered, feeling self-conscious under his stare, her skin under her fur flushing hot. “The boys in Bunnyburrow thought I was weird for wanting to be a police officer instead of wanting to settle down and start a family, and I didn’t exactly have time to meet anyone in the city when I got here.” She huffed and looked at him defiantly. “But so what? That doesn’t make my feelings any less genuine.”  
  
“I wasn’t going to say it did,” he said quickly, giving her paws a squeeze. “But geez…kinda puts pressure on a guy when he finds out that he’s the first boyfriend.”  
  
“Sorry.” But she really wasn’t and they both knew it.  
  
They stared at each other for a moment before he sighed and lifted her paws to press them to his lips. “Judy…I—I’ve never felt so strongly about anyone in my life. You’re so important to me.”  
  
“And?” she egged him on, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
He gave her an exasperated look but couldn’t contain the smile that spread on his lips. “And…I love you.” He let out a sigh that sounded relieved. “God, I love you so much, Judy.” He pulled her closer, wrapping around her, and she immediately returned the tight embrace. “Seeing Howlerson pointing that gun at you…I’d never been more scared in my life. I saw my life flashing before my eyes.”  
  
“That’s my line,” she mumbled against his shirt.  
  
“It’s true,” he insisted, a paw gently stroking her ears. “I saw a future without you in it and it was something I couldn’t bear. I’m not sorry I shot him and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I can’t lose you, Judy.”  
  
“You won’t have to, Nick,” she told him, leaning back and looking up at him. “I promise. I’m always going to be by your side.”  
  
He cupped her cheek in one paw, staring down at her so intensely it made her feel hot all over. “I’d very much like to kiss you now,” he murmured.  
  
“Nothing is stopping you,” she teased, but there was no real malice behind it.  
  
He leaned forward and she pressed herself up on her tippy toes to meet him half-way. She had thought about kissing him before and one of her main worries when thinking about it was the size difference between their muzzles. But she realized that none of that mattered as his lips met hers and suddenly she couldn’t think, she couldn’t breathe, all of her senses were being overwhelmed. The only thing she was aware of was Nick, of his mouth against hers, how his paws cupped her face and her back and the fur on his face was so soft and wow WOW.  
  
Then he was lifting her up so he could reach her better, both of his paws under her thighs as she wrapped her legs around his waist and her paws clung to his neck. He groaned into her mouth and oh that was his tongue and she was going to lose it she was sure—  
  
“We’re back—oh!”  
  
They pulled away from each other’s mouths and blinked at Marian, who stood in the doorway with Junior on her hip and a few bags held in her other paw. The older vixen blinked back at them before clearing her throat, and walking quickly towards Junior’s room. “Sorry, sorry, don’t mind us! We’ll, ah, just be a moment, give you two some space.”  
  
“Mama, papa!”  
  
“Yes, sweetie, mama and papa have finally gotten their heads out of their butts.”  
  
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Ma!” Nick called back as he set the giggling bunny back down on her feet, giving her an annoyed look. “Don’t encourage this, it’s getting really annoying that every time we get to have a moment it gets ruined.”  
  
“Next time don’t make out in the middle of the living room!”  
  
“I get it, Ma!”  
  
Judy couldn’t help herself as she doubled over with laughter, all of the tension that had been inside of her completely gone now, all of her worries about him and their relationship put to rest. She composed herself and grabbed his paw, pulling him towards Junior’s room. “Well, at least that’s one less person we have to tell!”  
  
“Though I can think of much better ways to tell her,” Nick pointed out but she could see the smile on his lips as he gave her paw a squeeze, his eyes shining at her.  
  
She smiled up at him as Marian congratulated them both, handing the fox kit to Judy as Junior babbled happily at his parents. The bunny knew that they still had a lot of work to do to make this relationship work, they would get a lot of judgement from mammals in the city, they would have to tell the chief and he would probably have a conniption. But it would all be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY AM I RIGHT??? this scene has been a long time coming and honestly i'm glad these two knuckle heads finally admitted it, it was getting tiring to write lol. like i said in the beginning notes, if there are any scenes you'd like to see from Nick's POV let me know and I might write them! i'll see you all next week!


	9. show me all the scars you hide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting messy in the city, so a vacation to the burrows is in order. Or are things messy there, too?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peeks out from around the corner* soooooo....guess who's back? aha i am so late and I'm so sorry. my work schedule got effed up again and my days of were messed up. it's getting steady so hopefully that should help?? but ugh i'm so sorry i made you guys wait so long, i feel bad, i do. but i am not abandoning this story, it's done so well better than anything i've ever written and that helps A LOT. thank you to tall of you who have left kudos, commented, bookmarked, what have you. all of you are the reason i keep writing. also shoutout to pixiesticker for betaing this for me, and to progressoftomorrow for all of her wonderful support. anyway, here's the chapter!

It turned out the transition from being “just friends” to a couple was much easier than Judy had thought it was going to be. She and Nick still acted the same way they always did, they teased each other and argued and flirted as normal. The only thing that was different really was that now she could lean into his side and hold his paw whenever she wanted. She no longer had to hold herself back from showing affection. She no longer had to watch herself, no longer had to question what was appropriate for just being friends. She no longer had to worry that one little action was going to ruin their friendship.

She was quite surprised by how the change in their relationship made Nick act. The fox had always had a habit of trying to keep everything and everyone he cared about close to him, but now they were together he didn’t even try to hold back. More often than not he was the one initiating the contact between them, always wanting to hold her paw or keeping a paw on her back or arm. He would curl around her every chance he got, his chest pressed to her back and his tail wrapped around her. And whenever he could, he would kiss her.

Boy, would he kiss her.

Her room was no longer in use since he insisted that she stay in his room now, and she found that she had no complaints with this development. There wasn’t any need for her to stay in that room, after all. She slept better in Nick’s bed, with him curled around her and her face pressed into his fur, breathing in his scent. Any nightmares that she had about the case were chased away by just his presence. In fact, she’d only had one since they began sharing a bed, and when she’d woken up screaming, Nick had been right there to comfort her, holding her tight and assuring her over and over that it was just a dream. She was alright. They were alright

Speaking of the case, while they were supposed to be on leave, they were still dragged in for some investigation. It turned out ZPP was not too happy that a known criminal had managed to get into the ZPD without anyone knowing who he was. They were trying to blame precinct one, say that they had been covering for Howlerson’s crimes to keep their own paws clean. It was a disgusting claim, one that everyone in the station denied and were able to prove was false. Bogo was especially furious when they tried to go after Judy. She had never seen the chief so angry or protective before. Nick was furious, too, and had to bat away at reporters who had caught wind of the investigation and wanted a story.

Further investigation turned up that Howlerson had paid A LOT of mammals off to keep his identity a secret. He had also somehow managed to give false DNA so that his records wouldn’t come up when he had applied to the academy. All of this was done just so that he could traffic in Zootopia without getting caught. It was disgusting, but he was dead now and he would never be able to hurt anyone again.

But the paparazzi didn’t want to hear that. They wanted a juicy story and they continued to hound the police to try to get one.

“Maybe we should get away for a while, at least until this all settles down,” Nick suggested one day after they’d had to fend off the press for a good ten minutes just so they could get into their apartment building. The press had been hounding them not only about the case but now about their relationship as well, along with wanting to know about their son.

When one reporter kept asking about Junior, Judy had had enough, pushing them away and basically snarling at them to leave her son out of this. The look they’d all given her was worth it, though.

She looked over at the fox as he set their son down and the kit toddled off to play with his toys. Junior had been trying his best to walk nowadays and he almost had it down. He really was growing up so fast. She shook it away and looked back at her boyfriend, crossing her arms over her chest. “Where could we go? There’s nowhere in the city we could hide, these guys are relentless.”

“Who said we had to be in the city?” He went over to her, reaching up to rub her shoulder gently with his paws, which made some of the tension in her body ease out. “We’re under no obligation or order to stay in the city, we’ve been cleared of suspicion. All we have to worry about is staying out of the public eye for a while.”

“So…?”

“So,” he grinned wrapping his arms around her waist and linking his fingers at the small of her back. “I was thinking that we could go visit your parents. They’ve been begging you to visit again, especially since the case ended. And you did say that if you didn’t bring me along they were going to give you a lecture.” He winked and kissed the inside of one of her ears, making her shiver.

“What about Marian?” she asked weakly, leaning into his chest and wrapping her arms around him. Damn him, he knew just how to get to her.

“We could bring her, too. She and Bonnie would get along splendidly.”

“You know they’ll trade stories about us as kids.”

“…on second thought, maybe that’s not such a good idea.”

“Too late, you can’t take it back now.” She smiled up at him, warm and full of adoration. “It sounds perfect, actually. A little family vacation, plus we can tell my parents about us. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.”

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her, making warmth spread all the way down to her toes. God, she would never get tired of this. He pulled away and ran his muzzle along her ears, which in turn made her rub her chin along the parts of his neck that she could reach. Damn him for being so tall.

They pulled away just enough so they could look at each other, both with big dopey grins on their faces. “So should I call my parents and let them know we’re coming to visit?” Judy asked, gently rubbing his back.

“Soon. Not just yet.” Nick grinned mischievously, suddenly reaching down to hook his arms under her butt, lifting her into the air and making her squeal. “I’m not done with you, Officer Fluff.” And she laughed as he carried her over to the couch so they could watch their son, but also steal kisses and cuddle until Marian arrived.

* * *

“You want me to what?” The vixen almost dropped the plate she was holding when they sprung the news on her, her green eyes wide and her mouth agape as she stared at them.

Judy smiled up at Marian as she reached out to take the plate from her, placing it back in the sink. She had insisted on helping them out with the dishes after they had finished dinner even after they’d told her that they had something to ask her. “We want you to come to Bunnyburrow with us. We don’t want to leave you here in the city to fend off the press by yourself. And…I want you to meet my family. I mean, you would have to eventually if we got married.” Crap, was that saying too much too soon? She hoped Nick didn’t mind.

“A-are you sure?” The vixen blinked at them both, seeming to be in shock. “I wouldn’t want to intrude—”

“Ma, you aren’t intruding.” Nick stepped forward to take his mother’s paw in his own, giving them a gentle squeeze. “We want you to come with us. We’re inviting you.”

“My family is going to love you, I promise,” Judy added, taking Marian’s other paw.

The vixen looked between them, her bottom lip caught in her teeth as she blinked rapidly, clearly trying to hold back tears. Judy was starting to worry, wondering if maybe they were pushing her too much too fast, but Marian took her paws back from them, wiping at her eyes before standing up straight. “Well, gosh, I-I have so much to do, then. I need to go to the salon, I haven’t had my fur done in months—oh, I should probably go shopping too, I don’t think I have any clothes that are suitable for the country—and goodness I should make some cookies or maybe a cake, it would be very rude to just show up without anything—”

“Ma!” Nick laughed as he hugged his mother, smooching her loudly on both of her cheeks. “You don’t need to do anything. They’re just simple bunnies, they don’t need all of that.” He glanced over at his girlfriend. “No offense.”

Judy shrugged. “None taken.”

Marian looked between them again, her bottom lip trembling and her eyes watery. “Are you sure? I mean, I won’t—scare any of them?”

Judy felt her heart breaking at the vixen’s words, not missing how her voice cracked just a little as she spoke. Now she knew where Nick had gotten his fear from. She shook her head, wrapping her arms around Marian. “You won’t. I promise. They’re going to love you, so please stop worrying.”

She felt the vixen let out a breath as her hug was returned, tight and warm. “Alright. I’ll try my best.” She looked up to see Marian smiling down at her, her eyes wet but her expression bright. “And I can’t wait to meet my future in-laws. I hope they’re ready to hear plenty of stories about Nicky as a baby.”

“Yep, definitely going to regret this,” the fox groaned as the women laughed and went back to the dishes.

* * *

Two days later they were on the train to Bunnyburrow, bags packed and some gifts ready (Marian really couldn’t stand going to meet her folks with nothing to offer them). Nick and Judy sat side by side on the train, paws held together with her leaning into his side. Marian sat on Judy’s other side with Junior in her lap, reading a book to him.

She smiled up at her boyfriend, giving his paw a squeeze. “I’m excited, are you excited?”

“I guess?” He shrugged. “I’m excited for all the food. I know how your mom loves to cook.”

“You’re always excited for food.”

“Exactly. That’s probably why she loves me so much.”

She laughed and punched him gently before leaning into his side again, closing her eyes as she felt him wrap an arm around her. She heard someone clear their throat and opened her eyes to see an older marmot glare at them before pointedly getting up and walking to the other side of the train car.

Judy had to stop herself from making a comment, instead leaning up rub her chin along the side of Nick’s neck, noting with satisfaction how it made him shiver. This was part of the reason she had been so concerned with getting away from the press.

They had been hounding the both of them about their relationship and she really didn’t understand why. Interspecies couples were not uncommon in Zootopia, which had been especially proven by poor Ella who had entertained men of all species.

But the paparazzi had been so focused on her and Nick, with their invasive questions and constant attention on them. She’d had to shove her way past more cameras than she could count. And to her, that was just ridiculous. The world had no right to her heart nor did it have a place in their bed. What they did was their own business and no concern of anyone else’s. And anyone who thought otherwise wasn’t worth their time.

“Carrots? You okay?”

His voice broke Judy out of her reverie; she looked up to see him staring at her with some concern. She nodded and smiled at him, leaning up to press her lips to the corner of his mouth. “I’m fine.”

His brows furrowed and she could tell that he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t try to press her on it. Instead he tucked her into his side and rested his muzzle on top of her head. “Are you nervous?”

Judy shook her head, relaxing into his hold. “Not at all. My parents have been rooting for us to get together and I just know that they’re going to love your mom. Everything is going to be fine.”

Yes, everything would be just fine.

* * *

The two-hour train ride went by faster than she had anticipated, but she was ready to get off and stretch her legs. She looked out the window and saw her family waiting for them, her parents and some of her younger siblings waving as the train pulled up. She grinned and bounced up from her seat, grabbing her suitcase and taking Junior from Marian before hurrying to the door. When it opened she dashed out into her parents’ arms, who both held her close.

“Oh sweetie we’re so glad to see you!”

“We heard what happened on the news and we were so worried!”

“But you’re here now and that’s all that matters, right, Stu?”

“Oh yeah, sure, Bon, absolutely.”

Judy pulled away and Bonnie took Junior from her, setting the kit on her hip and cooing at him. “He’s gotten bigger since we last saw him!”

“He’s a growing boy, mom, that’s what happens.” She looked over her shoulder to see Nick and Marian getting off the train. She motioned for the fox to come to her and he walked over to stand at her side. She took his paw in hers and looked at her parents. “Mom, Dad, we’ve got some news for you. Nick and I…well, we’re dating now.”

Stu blinked. “Wait, you really mean you weren’t before?”

Bonnie slapped her husband slightly. “I told you that she said they weren’t.”

“I thought you were just trying to cover for her!”

Judy groaned and rubbed her forehead with her paw while Nick just chuckled, letting go of her paw and wrapping an arm around her. “Mr. and Mrs. Hopps, I promise that I’ll do everything I can to make your daughter happy.”

“Oh, we already knew that, dear,” Bonnie smiled at the fox. “But thank you anyways, you’ve always been so good to her.”

There was the sound of a commotion behind them and they all turned around to look. Marian had been struggling with all the bags and boxes and had tripped and dropped them all. Judy and Nick made to go help her when Bonnie stopped them with a firm paw. The doe handed Junior to her husband and marched over to the vixen.

Judy watched with some apprehension as her mother knelt down in front of Marian, helping to pick up all the boxes. Bonnie called some of her children to come get the boxes then stood up, offering her paw to the vixen. Marian hesitantly took the offered paw, allowing her to help her to her feet. Then Bonnie smiled warmly up at her.

“It smells wonderful. Did you bake something?”

“Ah…y-yes. Some cookies. I do hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. That was the one thing I’d forgotten to prepare.”

“Well, I’m happy I could help then.” The smile on Marian’s muzzle said it all.

Judy sighed and leaned into Nick, looking up at him with shining eyes. “See? I told you it would be alright.”

“Yes, Carrots, you were right. Is that what you want me to say?” He rolled his eyes at her but the fond smile on his face offset it.

She giggled and nodded as her mother lead Marian over to them, both women smiling and already starting to chat like they were old friends. Yep, everything was going to be alright.

* * *

“Ohhh, did she really??”

“Yep, for nearly eight years. She could fit in the costume too, she was so tiny. She didn’t start growing until she was almost fourteen.”

“Oh neither did Nicky. He didn’t hit his growth spurt until he was fifteen. He used to come home and pout about being one of the shortest in his classes.”

“I’m starting to think you’re right, this was a bad idea,” Judy pouted as she listened to her mother and Marian swap stories about her and Nick. The two women had been in the kitchen chatting for nearly an hour and she was sure that anything she hadn’t wanted the vixen to know was now known, and vice versa with Nick.

“At least they’re having fun,” the fox mused, his paw gently petting the fur on the back of her head and her ears. It made her shiver and hum pleasantly, he always knew just how to calm her down.

They were sitting in one of the sitting rooms in the Hopps’ burrow, the one closest to the kitchen. Junior was on the floor with a couple of Judy’s nieces and nephews who were trying to play with him. It was adorable to watch the bunnies trying to interact with the fox kit, who really had grown since the last time she had been there. He was almost as big as the 2-3 year old bunnies.

Suddenly her father walked into the room, a grim look on his face. He tried to lighten up when he saw his daughter and Nick on the couch together, and that worried her more. “Oh, hey, Jude, Nick.” He swallowed then hurried into the kitchen. Judy raised her ears, trying hard to concentrate so she could hear what was going on.

“Bon, we have a problem.”

“What’s wrong, Stu?”

“Well…Martha just called. Said she’s in town and she wants to join us for dinner.”

“Oh sweet cheese and crackers…can we just tell her that now isn’t a good time?”

“You know what happened the last time we did that. She caused a huge ruckus on Furbook and I really don’t want to go through that again.”

Oh no. Aunt Martha was one of her father’s sisters and she was notorious for being very speciesist. There was no telling what kind of scene she would cause when she found out that Judy was not only fostering a fox kit, but also dating a fox.

No…you know it? Screw it.

Judy stood up and marched into the kitchen, catching both of her parents by surprise. She stood up straight, her shoulders back and her head held high. “No, let her come. She deserves to meet her new nephew, after all.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, daring them to challenge her.

As she predicted neither of her parents said anything, just looked at her each other before glancing back at her. “Alright…so I’ll tell around seven?” Stu still looked hesitant but she could tell that he wasn’t going to question her.

Bonnie sighed and turned back to the stove, giving Marian a reassuring nod. “Yeah, that’ll work.”

Judy nodded before turning on her heel and going back over to Nick, plopping down on the couch beside him and curling into his side. The fox raised an eyebrow at her. “What was that about?”

“Nothing. Just a stubborn relative coming to visit.”

“Should I be on my best behavior.”

“Frankly, I don’t care.”

* * *

Aunt Martha was less than thrilled about having three foxes in the burrow at the same time as her, but thankfully she kept her mouth shut. Judy was sure that if she said even a word she would have gone off on her. She was not about to let her talk about her family.

They all sat down to dinner, Bonnie having made sure to sit Aunt Martha as far away from Judy and Nick and Marian as possible. Junior was kept at Bonnie’s side, who insisted on spoiling the kit with food while he was there, and Judy wasn’t about to complain. It was rather endearing to see her mother cooing over her son, and it helped to lighten her mood.

Until Aunt Martha started speaking. “So. Judith. How long have you had...the kit.”

Seriously, did she have to say it like it was poison in her mouth? Judy bit the inside of her cheek to keep from snapping, not wanting to cause a scene in front of all of her siblings. “I’ve had custody of Nicholas Junior for about four months now.” She held her head high, making sure to keep her ears up as well. She would not let this woman see that she was getting to her. “The judge told me that after a year I could start to fill out the proper forms so I can adopt him.”

Martha looked at her, the older bunny’s upper curling a bit in the beginning of a sneer. “So you do intend on adopting the kit. Lovely.” She lifted her nose into the air, an action that made Judy want to slap her. “It must be such a modern trend in Zootopia, to adopt children of another species. Why, I read on Furbook not too long ago about an elephant couple that adopted a hippo child. Of course, they’re both from the same family so didn’t cause much of a scandal.”

Judy’s grip on her fork tightened as she swallowed down the icy words rising in her throat. “Well, Zootopia does its best so that anyone can be anything. Including the parent of a child of a different species.”

“I’m sure it just warms hearts.” And thankfully that was all she had to say for that moment.

Judy relaxed and continued her meal, feeling Nick beside her shift as he started to rise from his seat. “I’m gonna use the restroom. If you all will excuse me.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze before leaving the room.

She watched him go, suddenly feeling a little more helpless without him by her side. It wasn’t that she needed anyone to make her strong, of course not, but having him there did help.

She heard Aunt Martha sigh and set her fork down and steeled herself for more of her talk. “Judith, dear, you know you won’t be able to adopt that kit if you’re with that fox.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense,” Judy injected, standing up now and setting her paws on the table as she glared at her aunt. “He’s a fox, Junior is a fox, who better to help raise a fox than a fox?”

“Please, the scandal would be all over the papers and the internet. A predator and prey couple trying to adopt? The press will have a field day.” Martha lifted her nose once more. “I’m just trying to look out for you, dear. You’ve already had such a bad experience with foxes, after all.”

“That was 15 years ago!” She was yelling now and she didn’t care. “Gideon Grey was a troubled kid who took his anger out other kids! It’s what kids do! He apologized to me, I accepted his apology, we’ve both moved on.”

“But you still have the scars to prove it, don’t you?” Martha raised an eyebrow at her.

As if on instinct Judy’s paw flew up to cup her left cheek, the one that Gideon had cut so many years ago. She glared at her aunt, feeling her temper rising. “Scars aren’t bad, they prove that we’ve become stronger. I have plenty of other scars, too.”

“But none of them were made by a fox as well, am I wrong?” Martha stood, as if to go towards her niece.

Stu suddenly stood up from the end of the table where he had been sitting. “Alright, that’s enough.” He looked at his daughter. “Judy, sit down.” He waited until she did so before turning his gaze to his sister. “Martha, if you don’t have anything nice to say about the new members of our family, then you aren’t welcome anymore.”

“Excuse me??”

“You heard me. Leave.” Stu stood his ground, his eyes narrowed and his mouth pulled down into a deep frown. “I am not going to sit here and listen to you insult my grandkit and future son-in-law. If you don’t like it, then you can leave.”

“Well, I never—!” Martha huffed and glared at her brother before stomping out of the dining room, hopefully to leave the burrow and never come back.

Stu waited until she had left before looking around the table at his children and their spouses and grandchildren. “And that goes for the rest of you, too. If any of you have a problem with having foxes in our family, then you can leave. Because I will not tolerate that kind of behavior in my home.”

No one spoke or moved, so the older rabbit nodded his head and sat back down, cutting into his meal with more vigor.

Marian suddenly burst into tears, hiding her face in her paws. “I-I’m so sorry,” the vixen wept, her shoulders shaking. “We’ve caused you so much trouble! I’m so sorry!”

Bonnie stood up and hurried over to Marian, wrapping her arms around the vixen and holding her close. “No, please, we’re sorry. We knew how Martha is and we let her in anyway. We should have just told her no, spared you that.” She gently pried Marian’s paws away from her face, grabbing a napkin and handing it to her. “You haven’t caused any trouble, I promise. We’re happy to have you here.”

Marian nodded but continued to weep even as Bonnie did her best to reassure her. A touching scene, truly, but Judy felt like she should be the one apologizing. She was the one who had insisted that Martha come over, just to prove a point. She swallowed hard, a niggle of worry in the back of her mind that she couldn’t brush off. She excused herself and hurried out of the room to go find Nick—

—only to find him leaning against the wall by the door of the dining room, his arms crossed over his chest and his face pulled into a grim expression. Judy felt her heart drop.

“How much of that did you hear?”

“All of it.” He looked at her, both hurt and concern in his green eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“About what?”

“About Gideon Grey. About the fact that apparently he hurt you when you were kids. About how that perfectly explains why you were still scared of me during the Nighthowler case so that I don’t have to feel like a complete dick for what I did back then.” His arms dropped and he reached for her, grabbing her arm. “Judy, if I’d known, I would never have—”

“Never have what? Proved to me that I was still prejudice despite telling myself every day that it wasn’t a big deal? Made me realize that I really was just as small-minded as everyone else?” She reached up to cup his muzzle in her paws, looking into his eyes. “Nick, I never blamed you for any of that, not even for a second. It was my fault and I realized that the moment you walked away from me. You helped me.” She pulled him down so that she could press a quick kiss to his lips. “So please, stop thinking like that.”

Nick seemed to crumble under her gaze, letting go of her arm and wrapping his arms around her to pull her close. She pressed her face into his neck, letting his scent wash over her and calm her rapidly beating heart. “I don’t care what mammals like Aunt Martha say,” she murmured, just low enough for him to hear. “I love you, and I won’t let anyone make me feel ashamed of it because I’m not.”

“I love you, too,” he sighed, one of his paws cupping her shoulders as the other one rubbed her back. “I just don’t want you to have to go through all of this for me.”

“Isn’t that for me to decide?” She looked up at him, smiling. “I don’t mind going through ‘all of this’ for you, Nick. In fact, I’m glad to, because you are worth it.”

The fox chuckled and leaned down to press his cheek to hers, his body relaxing into her embrace. “Geez, Carrots, you sure know how to make a guy melt.”

“Only you.” Relief flooded her heart, and she perked her ears up to hear Marian now only sniffling instead of full-on crying. “I think we should get back in there, now. Everyone is going to start getting ideas about what we’re doing.”

“Oh the scandal.”

“Oh shut up.”

* * *

That night after they had put Junior down to bed Nick and Judy laid on the bed in the room her parents had prepared for them. Their son was staying with Marian in her room, which was just down the hall from theirs so that they weren’t too far away from them.

Bonnie and Stu had apologized multiple times to the foxes about Martha and everything she had said, but they held no grudges against them. Marian had stopped crying after they had gone back into the dining room and the rest of the evening Bonnie had stayed by the vixen’s side, both of them taking care of Junior and swapping more stories about their children. Judy had tried to apologize as well, but Marian had brushed it off with a smile and a kiss to her cheek. Everything had been peaceful afterwards, and for that Judy was so glad.

She pressed her face into Nick’s neck, feeling him nuzzling the top of her head while his hands rubbed up and down her arms and shoulders. It felt really nice, if she had been a cat she would have been purring. He had been so sweet since their confrontation in the hall, seeming to have gotten whatever tension was in him out during their discussion.

Suddenly his paw ran up her neck to cup over her left cheek and she froze as she felt him part the fur there, knowing what he was looking for. His paw pads ran over the scars there, just barely raised marks after fifteen years. But they were still there. She held her breath, waiting for him to make a comment.

Except he didn’t. Instead he pressed his lips to her scars before pressing kisses all over her face, making her giggle until he sealed his lips over hers, pushing himself up on his elbows so that he could loom over her. She sighed underneath him, almost melting into the mattress as his tongue came into play.

He pulled away to look down at her, his eyes soft as his paw came up to cup her cheek again. “I love you so much, Judy Hopps,” he whispered to her, his thumb stroking over where her scars were. “I would do anything for you. You know that, right?”

She nodded, gulping to keep the lump that suddenly formed in her throat down. “And I would do anything for you, Nick Wilde. You and Junior are my entire world.”

He grinned and swooped down to capture her lips again, leaving her in a world of sensations, their own little world where nothing else mattered and they could just be Nick and Judy, a fox and a bunny in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment, kudos if you haven't already, follow me on tumblr, all that good jazz. also remember that i'm still taking ideas for parts of this story from Nick's POV. again, thank you so much for all of your support.


	10. beautiful boy, darling boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything winds down and Judy finally gets what she wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is so so so late and i'm so sorry. i started the next chapter two weeks ago, intending on making this thing 12 chapters and nearly broke down because i hated it so much. so i said screw it and jumped ahead a chapter, saving the one i was writing as maybe a one-shot for in verse stuff later. this is the shortest chapter for this story but i did my best to end it in a way that i was satisfied with. after this there will be an epilogue and then this story will be over. at least the main one. thank you, all of you, who have left kudos and comments, it's meant the world to me and i know that without you guys this story would have stopped at like chapter 4. please see the end notes, i have a few more things to say but for now, here's the chapter!

Their two weeks of off time ended and they had to go back to the city, and back to their normal lives. The press were still on their butts, still asking questions and being nosy about their personal lives. After one particularly disastrous attempt by a photographer to get between Judy and her son, Bogo assigned them protective detail until the crowd finally died down. Which it did, after a few more weeks. More interesting things were happening in the city and the closed case had become old news. Judy couldn’t have been more grateful for it.  
  
After that, time seemed to fly by. Months passed and Junior was a year old before she knew it. He was walking and talking more, mostly just gibberish with some discernable words thrown in there. He was growing, too, his head almost at Judy’s chest now. Every day he seemed to get bigger and it both warmed and broke her heart. Her son was growing up and she couldn’t be prouder, but she worried that soon he may not have needed her.  
  
“Don’t be ridiculous, Carrots, of course he’s going to need you,” Nick reassured her when she expressed her concerns to him one night while they were curled up on his bed. “You’re his mother, he’s always going to need you.”  
  
“But what if he starts to not want me around?” she grumbled, burying her face in his chest fur as she let herself relax against him. It was impossible for her to stay tense when he was around.  
  
“Every kid gets like that, Carrots. It’s called being a teenager.” He chuckled and rubbed his muzzle along her ears, effectively making her forget what she was worried about. “But he’s always going to love you. I can guarantee it.”  
  
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” But she didn’t try to say any more as he leaned down to kiss her, rolling her over so that he was hovering over her and making her forget once more.  
  
Before she knew it she had had Junior for almost a year, which mean that she was now eligible to adopt the fox kit. With Ella gone and his father nowhere to be found, there was nothing stopping her from legally claiming the kit as her son. There was only one drawback to this: the paperwork. There was so much paperwork to go through to file for adoption and as she sat at the table one night staring at the stack, she realized that she had no idea where to start. It was overwhelming, and she buried her face in her paws and let out a loud groan.  
  
She felt a familiar pair of paws on her shoulder, rubbing gently. “You wanna go get some fresh air? Junior’s with Ma tonight, we’re off tomorrow, we have plenty of time to waste.”   
  
“We really should start on this.”  
  
“The paperwork is still going to be there in the morning, fluff. C’mon.” Nick kissed her cheek, prying her paws away from her face. “Let’s go for a walk. It’s gorgeous out tonight.” He gave her a wink. “Not more than you, of course.”  
  
She felt the insides of her ears turning pink and she gave him a playful shove before hopping down to the floor. “Alright, Slick. But don’t think this is going to get you out of helping me with it later.”  
  
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”  
  
They both pulled on their jackets before leaving the apartment, heading outside. They clasped paws as they walked down the sidewalk, with no particular place in mind to go. They just walked, enjoying the night air and enjoying each other’s company.   
  
There was a bench just outside one of their favorite cafes and they sat down on it, leaning into each other and staring up at the night sky. Judy curled into Nick’s side, humming happily when he wrapped his arm around her and tucked her closer. She leaned up to rub her nose and chin against his cheek, which made him turn his head so that he could press his lips to the top of her head. She sighed and closed her eyes, feeling so warm and full.  
  
She felt him smile against her fur. “So are you excited about adopting him?”  
  
“Of course, I am.” She tilted her head so that she could look into his eyes, her own shining brightly. “It’s what I’ve wanted since I first laid eyes on him. I love him and I want to give him a forever home.”  
  
“Only you would refer to it so sappily?”  
  
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” She poked his side though she made no motion to move away from him.  
  
“Nothing, nothing at all.” He chuckled as he stroked her ears, which almost immediately made her melt into him more. Cheese and crackers, he was good at that.   
  
Things were silent between them for a few moments before he spoke. “So have you decided what last name you want him to have?”  
  
Judy tensed in his hold, gulping audibly. The last name situation was one that they hadn’t had a chance to discuss yet. She kept meaning to ask him about it, but every time something would come up or he would distract her as he was very good at doing. She breathed in slowly, raising her eyes to look at him. “Well…no, not yet.” She looked at her lap, where she had clasped her paws together. “I mean, if push comes to shove I guess we could just give him Ella’s.”  
  
“That would look a little strange when he goes into school, wouldn’t it?”  
  
“I guess…” She glanced up at him, her eyes searching. “Do you have a preference about which of our names he should take?” It was amazing how she could still get embarrassed with him even after they had been together for a while.  
  
Nick shrugged, leaning back into the bench as his ran up and down her arm. “It’s up to you, Carrots.”  
  
She huffed and flopped back against the bench crossing her arms over her chest. A lot of help he was.  
  
There was silence again until he pulled his arm from around her, reaching down to take her paw in his instead. She glanced down at that before looking back up at him, noting the sudden serious look on his face with a skipped beat of her heart. “Nick…? Is everything okay?”  
  
He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it, looked away from her and she could see the insides of his ears turning red. Her own ears perked up, pointed in his direction as she tried to figure out what was going on. What was he thinking about?”  
  
“You know,” he started, then stopped to clear his throat, looking everywhere except at her eyes. Now she knew that something was up. He breathed in and tried again. “You know, some of the social workers don’t really seem to approve of an interspecies couple adopting.”  
  
“We had their arguments thrown out, no judge would ever side with them,” she reminded him, giving his paw a squeeze. Was that what he was worried about?  
  
“I know, I know.” He sighed and ran his free paw over his face before finally look at her. He gave her paw a squeeze as he smiled warmly at her. “And I’m never going to let anyone take him or you away from me. I’d do anything for you.”  
  
“Nick…” She could feel tears welling up in her eyes and she blinked rapidly to keep them at bay. Now was not the time.  
  
He smiled and kissed her paw before turning his body towards her, cupping her cheek in his other paw. “You know, when two mammals are trying to adopt, sometimes it’s easier for them if they’re married.”  
  
Her heart skipped again. Suddenly all the air left her lungs. She stared up at him, her eyes wide. “…Nick?”  
  
“This wasn’t how I planned on doing this, but,” he shrugged, smiling at her, “I mean, since we’re talking about the process—”  
  
“Do you even have a ring?”  
  
“…well, no. It’s at home.”  
  
“Oh my god.” She laughed, a little watery and a lot joyfully. “You would do this without a ring.”  
  
“Hey, give me some credit. At least I asked before we started the paperwork.” He let go of her paw and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. “So what do you say? Will you do me the honor of taking my last name, and having our son take it as well?”  
  
“I will,” she nodded, then grinned at him. “ _IF_ you ask me properly.”  
  
“Woman.” Nick rolled his eyes but couldn’t keep the smile off of his lips. He let go of her and got off the bench, getting onto one knee on the concrete as he took her paw in his once more. “Judy Hopps, will you marry me?”  
  
“Will I do that?” She pulled him up and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him to her so that she could kiss him.  
  
“Yes, yes I will.”

* * *

There wasn’t much time to plan a wedding, much to Bonnie and Marian’s despair. Judy and Nick decided that it would be easier to just go to the courthouse for now, though they promised to have a real wedding once everything was settled.   
  
They were married by a judge a week later, with Judy’s parents and Marian as their witnesses. Afterwards they all went out to eat and Marian took Junior for the night so that the happy couple could have some time to themselves. And it was a good thing too, as the two did not leave their bed until well into the next afternoon.   
  
The adoption papers were a process to get through, with lots of boring reading and signing and checking with the social worker. All in all, it took about two weeks to get through all of it, along with all of the legal processes needed to ensure that their son was legally theirs.  
  
But when the judge declared Nicholas Wilde, Jr. to be their legal son, and the kit was placed into her arms much like the first day she was given custody of him, it was worth it. So, so worth it.  
  
That night they all cuddled on Nick and Judy’s bed, with Junior sleeping between them. Judy kissed the kit’s head, rubbing her chin all over his face and ears as he snored softly. She smiled and closed her eyes, wrapping her arms tighter around her son.  
  
_Ella, your son will be safe and happy from now on. I promise._  
  
She felt Nick wrap his arms around both of them, rubbing his muzzle all over her and all over Junior. She smiled as she nuzzled him, rewarded with kisses to her cheeks and to her lips. “I love you, Nick Wilde.”  
  
“And I love you, Judy Wilde.” He wrapped his tail around the both of them and she realized that she had never felt as content as she did in this moment. And as she drifted off to sleep, she heard Nick singing, very softly, to lull both her and Junior deeper into dream land.  
  
_“Before you go to sleep_  
 _Say a little prayer_  
 _Every day in every way, it's getting better and better_  
  
_Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful_  
 _Beautiful boy_  
  
_Darling, darling, darling_  
 _Darling Nicky…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the main story will be over with the next chapter, but i'm still open to taking suggestions for parts of the story that you all would like to see through Nick's POV. those will be started in a one-shot series that i haven't decided a title to yet lol. also i'm working on a really big project with an artist on tumblr. the first chapter is already and i encourage you all to read it. it may not be your otp, but if you like stories about childhood romance and overcoming the odds, then you will LOVE the story. i promise. i'll see you all in the last update. thank you again so much for all of your support. <3


	11. you'll blow us all away, someday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to wrap this up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is so so so late and I'm so sorry everyone. life just got chaotic and i just couldn't find it in me to sit down and write this down. but tomorrow is the anniversary of Zootopia coming out and I really wanted to do something for it, so i made myself sit down and finally write this down. this marks the end of the first part of this verse, but i have more planned for it! i still have the other drabble series for it, where i'm still taking suggestions for parts of this story from Nick's POV. there's also gonna be a couple of one-shots for this verse before i try a sequel...which might not be the happiest thing ever because i'm actually really terrible lmao. but here you guys are. thank to you everyone who has stuck with me for this, i appreciate each and every one of you. you guys are seriously the best, i love you.

“So, kiddo, you ready for school?”  
  
Judy peered into the back of the squad car at her son. At five years old, Nicholas Junior was about to have his first day of kindergarten. She knew that he was ready, he had been saying so for the past month or so every time they brought it up. She knew he loved her and Nick and his Gramma Marian, but he was so eager to get out there and make more friends, to try to make friends and make the world a better place like his parents.  
  
He really was such a thoughtful kid.  
  
“Yes, mama, I’m ready!” The kit wiggled in his car seat, now an upgraded one from when he was a baby. His green eyes shone as he leaned up to look out the window. “Are we there yet??”  
  
“Not yet, sport, almost.”   
  
Judy looked at her husband in the driver’s seat, reaching over to take his paw in hers. The gold band on her left paw gleamed in the sunlight that shone from the window. Her fox glanced at her and grinned, turning his paw over to give hers a squeeze. She smiled back at him before looking over her shoulder at their son once more.  
  
It had been about four years since Nick and Judy had gotten married and legally adopted Junior as their son. She could say with complete sincerity that they had been the happiest years of her life. Nick was a wonderful and doting husband and father, and Junior was still such a sweet boy. He still smiled and laughed and loved on anyone who got to know him. Their families got along splendidly, they had Finnick and Gideon and Clawhauser and everyone in the precinct as their friends. Everything in their life had seemed to fall into place.  
  
It was perfect.  
  
It wasn’t too long before they reached the school. Buses and other parents were pulling up to drop off their kids. The Wildes parked in front and the two officers turned to look at their son. “Okay, son. This is it.”  
  
“It’s a really big day.” Judy smiled warmly at the kit. “I hope you have lots of fun and make lots of friends.”  
  
“You sure you don’t want one of us to go in with you?” Nick tilted his head at his boy.  
  
Junior shook his head, staring out the window at all the kids and grown-ups heading inside. “No, that’s okay. I can do it myself.” He reached down to unbuckle himself but stopped, slowly looking up at them. “Do you…do you think they’ll like me?”  
  
Nick and Judy looked at each other, mild distress in their eyes. They had done their best to keep their child from having any fear of any kind of discrimination, but of course it was impossible to shelter him from it completely. They still experienced some against them as a family, since not everyone in Zootopia was as accepting as they would have liked. But they fought against it with kindness and tolerance to prove that there was absolutely nothing wrong with their family and how they loved each other.  
  
They nodded at each other and unbuckled, going around the car to the side where their son was sitting, opening the door so they could look at him. Judy climbed in and unbuckled her son while Nick grabbed his book bag and held it on his shoulder. She reached up to cup Junior’s face. “They’re going to love you, sweetheart. Just be yourself and smile, okay? Remember what we taught you?”  
  
“Be nice to everyone and if they aren’t nice walk away,” Junior quoted, grinning at her.  
  
“That’s right sport,” Nick grinned and reached up to help his wife and son out of the car. “And remember to be patient with anyone who isn’t as smart as you, which is going to be most of them—OW, Carrots, it was just a joke!”  
  
Judy gave the fox a firm look and raised her paw in a threat to punch him again before turning to her son. “Just go in there and be the wonderful tod we know you are. They’re going to love you, Junior.”  
  
The kit nodded and took in a deep breath before turning to his father and reaching out for his book bag. Nick handed it to him and he put his little arms through the straps, holding them in his paws. Junior looked at his parents and smiled. “Okay, I’m ready.” He hesitated then hugged them, which they of course returned. “Thanks, guys. I love you so much.” Then he let go and jogged towards the school, calling over his shoulder, “I’ll see you later!”  
  
“We’ll be here to pick you up at 3:15!” Judy called to him.  
  
Junior waved before bounding up the steps of the school, scurrying inside.  
  
They watched him go and Judy let out a sigh. Nick put his paw on her shoulder and she looked up to see him smiling at her. “He’ll be alright. He’s a tough kid, smart too. And with that killer smile of his, he’ll make lots of friends.”  
  
“You’re right.”  
  
“Of course I am—OW, okay, you can stop that now.”  
  
She gave him a playful shove, her violet eyes shining now. “C’mon, Slick, we have one more thing to do before work.” She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek before closing the car door and going back around to her side. She climbed in and buckled in again, closing her door and waiting for Nick to get in. When he did he started up the car and pulled out into the street and drove down the road.  
  
It didn’t take too long for them to get to their destination. Judy reached back to grab a bundle of yellow and white roses, unbuckling.  
  
“You want me to go with you?” Nick looked over at her, his eyes green eyes full of concern.  
  
Judy shook her head, smiling at him. “This shouldn’t take too long. I’ll be back in fifteen, keep the car running.”  
  
“Alright, Fluff.”   
  
She leaned over to kiss him quickly then got out, walking towards the cemetery gates. She exchanged a nod with the guard before going in, following the path down the hill, knowing where she was going. She had been this way many times in the last four years, both by herself and with Nick and Junior. When she reached her destination she smiled softly, sadly. “Hi, Ella.”  
  
The tombstone of the vixen she had failed to save was in front of her, grass grown over the grave and a few leaves covering it. Judy gently brushed them off and laid the roses down in front of the stone, looking at the words there.  
  
****_Ella Sanchez_  
Loving and strong mother  
Taken too soon  
  
The precinct had helped Judy pitch in for a proper tombstone for the vixen a few years ago after Bogo had found out she was trying to raise funds to get one. A huge portion of the money had actually come from Finnick and her family, which she had tried to protest but they were having none of that. It was the least she could do for the woman who had given her son life.  
  
“Junior started school today. I wish you could have seen him, he was so excited. I just know that he’s going to do great. He’s so smart and he’s going to make so many friends.” She ran her paw over the stone, gently. “You would be so proud of him.”  
  
She stood up straight, smoothing down the front of her uniform. “I’ll try to visit sooner next time, I promise. And I’ll bring Nicky with me so he can tell you all about his first day went.” She smiled softly. “I promise, I’m doing everything I can to raise him right. He’s our whole world, after all.” She turned around. “See you later, Ella.”  
  
As she walked away she didn’t see the faint outline sitting on the tombstone smile at her before disappearing in the breeze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos and/or leave a comment if you liked this. send in any suggestions you have for the drabble series either here or on my tumblr. thank all of you again, this was quite the ride.

**Author's Note:**

> oh ho ho, feelings are a-brewin'! I'm not sure how often I'll update this, but I'll try to keep them as regular as I can. this story is an escape from my really angsty one so I really needed this. anywho, kudos and/or comment on this to let me know if you liked it!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Best Laid Plans](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8993866) by [Tamiri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamiri/pseuds/Tamiri)




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